Price/Option differences US v. CA

[Karinann]

Greetings fellow Smartians:
Here's an interesting mind game. I was just looking at the Canadian Smart website and noticed that the starting prices for Smarts are quite a bit higher than US prices. Given the fact that the US dollar and Canadian dollar are pretty much on par with each other, I'm wondering why this might be. Also there are quite a few additional/differant configuration options available when buying in Canada. Now I know in the past that the US DOT prohibited import sales of Smarts because of lack of conformity with US safety standards. Are the current versions of 451 models being sold in Canada that much differant than US models?
Have a Smart day and Cheers,
Karin

[mdfortwoguy]

Well, Canada has 2x the warranty of ours in the US, and their Passion models have things such as heated seats standard. IIRC, their Pures have power windows and such as well.

[SmartCard]

No need to dwell on this too long.....Canadian prices of all cars are higher then the US, even when compensating for the exchange rate.

[mike-in-sa]

In Germany the smart sicker price is 15000 euros.

[RVGRINGO]

As one who lives outside of the USA but depends on income in US Dollars, I can tell you that the falling value of the dollar is becoming a serious concern. I suspect that Smart is subsidizing the price of Smarts in the USA because of the reservation system and the fact that a price expectation is established when you put down your $99. The actual price is then locked in at confirmation/configuration. However, the falling dollar will dictate a much higher price for all imported goods and you will soon feel the pain. Earlier this year, $1 bought 11 Mexican pesos. Now, it buys about 9.8-10 pesos, representing a loss of 10% purchasing power. On top of that, we have about 5% inflation and a 1% international currency exchange fee for a total of 16% loss so far this year. Worse yet, our income from interest (we are retired) has plummeted from 4.5% to zilch with the falling interest rates. And, they say that the worst is yet to come when winter arrives, heating homes becomes difficult, credit card debt rises and the real crunch hits in the USA. Buy another Smart and plant a garden!

[tivoboy]

prices don't tend to change in countries over time, they simply go up or remain constant. The EXCHANGE rate of the $$ to CA has changed from 1.6 in 1998 to 1.0 or less today, and the price of the same car in CA has gone up. Countries VERY VERY rarely change their prices DOWN because of exchange rates.

So, for example in Germany to price of cars is higher, and then MUCH MUCH higher since the $$ to euro has gone from .85 $/Euro in 1999 to 1.6 $/euro today. For the European, their prices have just done up regularly annually.