Smart car dealerships-One in every town?

[deltadart]

Since the Smart car is selling very well do you think there will be a dealer in most towns like the Chevy,Ford and Chrysler dealers?

[Okie Boy]

Originally Posted by deltadart

Since the Smart car is selling very well do you think there will be a dealer in most towns like the Chevy,Ford and Chrysler dealers?

NO, smart is only importing about 30,000 cars per year.

[curtis]

I doubt it but I wouldn't be surprised to see this in every major city or metro area, I know Wisconsin only has one but they plan to open an Appleton and Madison location as well, so that's 3 in Wisconsin and all we do is drink beer, eat cheese and tip cows!

[doogster]

is there a list of where new dealerships are underway? I'm buying my smart in a few days and the dealership is ove 60 miles... I live in a very populated area of NJ (Toms River area) and I'm wondering if one might come here.

[curtis]

I wish mine was only 60 miles, I gotta go abou 150 until they open the Appleton dealer, then only 30..

[rawlus®]

if demand remains strong, and the NA market continues to grow to a respectable size, i could see a NA-based factory to handle US, Mexico and Canada come aboard. that would be the reasonable decision once it has been determined that the market climate for the smart is viable.

[Broken Kid]

I was told there is some kind of exclusivity agreement for two years for dealers in certain areas. So the one in Buffalo is too close to Rochester (~80 miles) for Rochester to get one. But they told me in two years, they probably will expand.

[letsgoskatepool]

why only 30,000? For most, the 1 yr+ wait is a huge deterrence. I was in the smart dealership in West Palm Beach and 2 out of the 3 potential customers left pretty soon after the reservation program was discussed. The smart is great, but not 1 year+ great for most, especially since you usually do not go looking for a new car till you need one.

[letsgoskatepool]

Also, now that my smart has died once already, I am seriously reconsidering taking it on my trip to visit my grandparents in El Paso because the closest dealership is many hours away in Albuquerque.

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by deltadart

Since the Smart car is selling very well do you think there will be a dealer in most towns like the Chevy,Ford and Chrysler dealers?

Originally Posted by curtis

I doubt it but I wouldn't be surprised to see this in every major city or metro area, I know Wisconsin only has one but they plan to open an Appleton and Madison location as well, so that's 3 in Wisconsin and all we do is drink beer, eat cheese and tip cows!

Originally Posted by Okie Boy

NO, smart is only importing about 30,000 cars per year.

OK, let's say for S&G's that smart is only importing 30,000 cars per year. lets also say that each State gets a 'maximum' of 3 dealers. let's do the math:

50 States X 3 per state = 150 total dealers now 30,000 cars equally divided among those 150 dealers (we'll factor in the rumor of dealer allocation in 2009) and that gives us 200 smarts per dealer per year, or only 3.8 cars/week.

does anyone in their right mind think that a smart dealer can cover their entire overhead by selling less than 4 cars a week?

no wonder there's so many States without dealers.....no ones THAT well off in todays economy to take that plunge........