As stated earlier Mr. Penske is not unkind or vindictive he is a very wealthy and crafty salesperson surrounded, by a very formidable team. Why would he be vindictive and to whom, over a few cars? There is a bigger picture.
But still he is a car salesman. Penske said in an interview in Stuttgart, Germany, "No incentives will be offered on the car, which will start at about $11,000.00."
At $11,000 for a Smart car no incentives would be needed, only huge inventories. He also said only 5 percent of the waiting list members want the pure model. The pure model, which I believe always comes off the assembly line first, has been an inadequate seller for smart GmbH, has the lowest gross, but 5 percent seems very low. And only two models are available in the U.S., no pulse for us.
Prices quoted are hard to accept (if not impossible) as true. For sure sufficient inventories will be a predicament for the customers.
If you go to
www.smart.com and configure a basic pure from their Canadian site, with no options, no destination charges, dealer prep, tax, tag or dealer ups will cost you 16,700 Canadian Dollars, which equals 15,994 US Dollars. $11,000 I hope so but think not!
And let's just say you want a smart and live in one of the 16 states that will not even have a smart dealership, what will the smart cost you, if you can get one?
Remember, Canada's first year allotment was a whopping 800 cars! The smart was introduced in Canada a little over two years ago. As of June 1 2007, 9200 smart cdi's had been sold and there were 10,500 smart cars in Canada. Some Canadian folks are still waiting.
Consider the delineation of 10, regarding sales forecast between Canada and the United States. If this figure is off by half it still equates to 50,000 Smart units needed for the USA in the next 2 years.
Even UnitedAuto Group, V.P., Mr. Pordon admits "that the company (UAG) could conceivably sell out of the first year's expected volume before the vehicle goes on sale." They will, no they have!
He made this statement when UAG had reservations for 12,000 units; they have booked over 22,000 plus orders and continue to take reservations.
So be prepared to wait and wait and wait some more.
Penske also said a 50 state 24 hour technical support line will be instituted for Smart car buyers.
That's great, but according to reports from the Wall Street Journal, "the Company (UAG/smart USA) only plans to sell 16,000 smart cars next year."
Perhaps that's the entire inventory smart GmbH is willing or capable of supplying to the USA? Conceivably this may have something to do with the fact smart GmbH has lost over $4,000 on every car that has rolled off their line and not so smart losses of over $5.9 billion from 2003 to 2006 and finally since stopping production of all other models and cutting much of the fat have a chance to turn a profit, they have been promising the shareholders for years.
Additional issues may hinder procuring your Smart, other than the supply issues. Logistics, accountability questions on many fronts and the potential for unforeseen complications and other problems.
Since the inception, the French Smart plant has been an encumbrance. Lengthy mandatory vacations, substantial subsidy packages, strikes constantly looming and poor work ethics could induce added delays. It is a ridiculous region to manufacture these cars.
For those of you who have placed the $99.00 for your reservations keep in mind you are sending your cash to one of the largest lead generating Internet companies on the web! You ask why your sending it there, well Mr. Penske is on their board of directors.
So we are really paying a lead generating company $99.00 to been on a list. Very smart for sure! This is an excellent first of its kind technique to collect data and leads in overwhelming quantities and be in charge.
If you've registered for a smart and looked at their disclaimer, you can see you're not guaranteed to get a smart car, let alone the color, options or price. The dealer is in complete and total charge regarding the transaction and the price.
I believe their reservation policy is ambiguous, one sided and vague.
http://the2008smart.com/index.php?op...ask=view&id=18
With their limited supply the dealers may not be selling all the smarts to waiting list people, money talks! After all, the dealers did put up a lot of dough for the privilege of selling a few hundred low grossing cars a year.
Do the math, soon smart USA & UAG will have (my guess) 50,000 plus sign ups, another 100,000 solid car sales leads and 65 dealers plus who paid in the neighborhood of $300,000. This could equal $30,000,000 plus, before they even sell their first car and much more for the future.
My opinion is the pure is nothing more than a lost leader for smart USA! It will be a sales promotion car to get peoples attention and get people into the dealerships.
Loss leaders are an important part of any dealers marketing and sales strategies, but not good for the smart car buying public. The smart dealers realize when you come to their showrooms you're nothing more than a lay down!
For years the real smart car enthusiast has been told story after story by all those concerned with the smart project.
Possibly if half of us on the list asked for a $99.00 refund, would make the consumer the one in charge, as it should be? Now maybe the time to become proactive and take charge and assist each other in monitor and scrutinize the process.
Perhaps we could post a new tread not just telling readers what you ordered but giving additional details.
Like where you live, date ordered, input you've got from smart USA, people you have contacted from smart USA, information they supplied or did not, anything that will help our fellow smart car enthusiast.
As most of you are aware there has been a great problem with communicating with everyone every involved in the smart car project.
Even worst, at least 16 states, hundreds of good size cities and tens of thousands of Smart enthusiast, disappointed and have longer waits than anticipated. How does that work with Mr. Penske's 50 state 24 hour technical support line?
Mr. Schembri, president of smart USA would not offer annual sales volume projections. But he said he expects the "average Smart dealer to sell more than 200 vehicles in the first year." He also said dealers will be profitable within two years. We already know this will not be the case by solely selling the smart.
Joe Guy Collier of the Detroit Free Press said "Mr. Schembri, president of Smart USA, might have been stretching the truth a bit, in at least one of his pitches for the new Smart ForTwo."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...707150587/1002
I think he may also be incorrect in some other allegations. And car has yet been tested for our standards.
So I tend to agree with what was written on the web site
www.2008smart.com and I quote.
"For now, selling the Smart is just one component of a very complex undertaking. We just may be at a pivotal crossroad for the future and direction of the U.S. automotive industry and the emerging automotive industries of China, India and beyond."
"Truth be told, the entire North American Smart car production and import process is a multifaceted, global business enterprise, reaching far into the future."
"The North American launch of the 2008 Smart ForTwo automobile is certainly not just about selling a handful of $12,000 cars, or introducing a new automotive brand."
"It is, however, an endeavor of significant importance that may have diverse and long-lasting implications for many of us."
Let's get proactive and be smart about the smart.
Today
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