smart sales fall short

[Carlarm]

I felt the Speedhunter's review was biased, in favor of smart. It sounded like it was lifted from a sales brochure. I'm suspicious when a reviewer can't find anything that displeases him. Not that I disagree with anything he said. But I could see where people who had no experience with a smart would be dubious of such a review.

[rfernatt]

I think it might be better to say "smart sales fall short of last year's numbers". But, last year was a fluke. It was the honeymoon with a new car into a brand new market. As quoted in the other thread jwight mentioned, in 2007 they thought the ceiling in the US market was 20K units/year. Penske wanted to sell 15-16K units/year the first year and that was without the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. If they end up selling 15,700 this year, then they are about where they expected to be last year. Last year's extraordinary sales are just a bonus that will hopefully see them through to better times.

I'm not saying that things are peachy keen, but if Penske entered this market thinking he could turn a profit on 15 - 20K units/year, then things could be a lot worse given the turmoil in the economy and the fact that smartUSA is a "one trick pony" niche brand.

[PassionforPassionCT]

I think Penske needs to actually start advertising this car.
Its amazing that this many have sold based on the fact there is no concerted effort to advertise its existence in this country.

[Pee-wee German]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

That goes to show people will believe a rumor, or something they read in an article. One reviewer spends 15 minutes in a car and complains about the transmission or the ride, and bashes it. As a result, people laugh at the car they read about or heard about, but they never bother to try it themselves. And they'll go right out and buy a car that's close but claims to cram four people into it. Not realizing that by doing so, they're sacrificing a lot - including safety.

People need to break out of the herd mentality and realize there's more to life than beige-box standard cars.

Looks like Smart should have run TV ads a year ago. Crash test data would be an awesome boost to sales - how else did Volvo sell their steel boxes, but to portray them as the safest on the road? You could hit a semi in a Volvo and come out ok.

Exactly; herd journalism at its finest. If the smart were built in Hungary, their new media law would allow the government to shut down negative news outlets for things like that.

[forestacademy]

Originally Posted by Pee-wee German

Exactly; herd journalism at its finest. If the smart were built in Hungary, their new media law would allow the government to shut down negative news outlets for things like that.

If it were built in Hungry it would be in line for a complete new line of criticism.