"Sweet Pete" weighs in on smart's future

[Ronin]

The auto industry's favorite curmudgeon, Pete DeLorenzo has this to say on his Auto Extremist blog (On The Table - Autoextremist.com ~ the bare-knuckled, unvarnished, high octane truth...)

Remember that he is an opinionated firebrand and holds nothing back. Perhaps he does have a point, but I still want a smart and I bet a lot of people would if this country had a discernible energy policy.


"Smart. Publisher's Note: Back when this venture was first announced I went on record as saying it would last 12 months, tops. Well, 20 months in and with sales trending downward month after month - October sales were down a staggering 70.4 percent - I think we can safely say that the Smart experiment is a bust. Even with an electric version allegedly coming here, it doesn't matter. It's a niche car, and the niche has been filled. Buh-bye now. - PMD"

[jwight]

Interesting....in a scary, EIB sorta way. Nice kick in teeth to Toyota for pulling out of F1 racing while extolling the virtues of Honda...which pulled out of F1 a whole year ago.

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by Ronin;287557[B

]"Smart. Publisher's Note: Back when this venture was first announced I went on record as saying it would last 12 months, tops. Well, 20 months in and with sales trending downward month after month - October sales were down a staggering 70.4 percent - I think we can safely say that the Smart experiment is a bust. Even with an electric version allegedly coming here, it doesn't matter. It's a niche car, and the niche has been filled. Buh-bye now. - PMD"[/B]

Well DUH! ALL of the auto manufacturers are DOWN in sales. My educated guess is that if gas prices keep increasing as they have been, you'll start seeing the smart sales level off and eventually rise again.

It IS a 'niche car', but so what? First time drivers are getting their licenses every day as well as some of these older, gas guzzlers that are paid off are falling apart and going off to the junk yard. They have to be replaced by something......why not a smart?

[SmartDigger]

The whole industry is in a bail out hangover. Like retail sales after first of the year.

[nprsmart]

Gas prices are headed up around here and I just don't care. I only make it to the gas station about once a week and it's hard to get excited when you can only put 6 gallons in at a time.

[powerbookguy]

Originally Posted by jwight

Nice kick in teeth to Toyota for pulling out of F1 racing while extolling the virtues of Honda...which pulled out of F1 a whole year ago.

and let us remember that the former Honda F1 team (now Brawn GP) won both drivers and constructors F1 championships in 2009 in their first year out of the gate.

[Mike T]

The US sales have absolutely collapsed, which surely is of concern to Penske. If they don't pick up soon, I wonder whether they'll be in that market for much longer. Canadian sales are lower too but still only 30% down on last year.

[WhiteNBlack08]

Originally Posted by Big Panda

Well DUH! ALL of the auto manufacturers are DOWN in sales. My educated guess is that if gas prices keep increasing as they have been, you'll start seeing the smart sales level off and eventually rise again.

It IS a 'niche car', but so what? First time drivers are getting their licenses every day as well as some of these older, gas guzzlers that are paid off are falling apart and going off to the junk yard. They have to be replaced by something......why not a smart?

EXACTLY!!! We are living in an economy that just posted it's highest unemployment numbers in 26 years! 500,000 people are still losing their jobs each month, who in their right mind is out buying cars right now? Of course sales numbers are down, the whole freaking economy is down. Penske never intended to sell 100,000 cars a year. Obviously, somebody with his business sense has to plan for this. The economy will recover eventually, and smart will bounce back. They will never be a sales leader, that's not their goal. I know when the time is right, I plan on buying another one.

[SmartDigger]

Do not forget smart has been positioning themselves in the world market. US sale is only a small part of this plan.

[jimvw57]

After the big 'cash for clunkers' fiasco, it is expected that sales will drop for a bit. The people that were on the edge of buying were pushed into buying. now they have to reap the benefits. Stagnant sales for a few months. I wouldn't read anyting into it.