The "smart story" at the Mercedes-Benz museum follows the history of the smart . That good enuff for me to put one on.
My take on this: The parent company of smart is Daimler. It manufactures three differently branded cars - Mercedes, Maybach, and smart, along with half a dozen commercial vehicles. These are separate marques and are and should be badged separately. Putting a Mercedes badge on a smart is the exact equivalent of placing a Corvette badge on an Aveo or doing the same with a Lincoln and a Festiva. If people want to know what company manufactures it, I'm sure they'll ask.
My take on this: The parent company of smart is Daimler. It manufactures three differently branded cars - Mercedes, Maybach, and smart, along with half a dozen commercial vehicles. These are separate marques and are and should be badged separately. Putting a Mercedes badge on a smart is the exact equivalent of placing a Corvette badge on an Aveo or doing the same with a Lincoln and a Festiva. If people want to know what company manufactures it, I'm sure they'll ask.
Daimler is currently producing all of the Chrysler products as well. In fact, they are taking what used to be branded as Mercedes delivery vehicles in Europe and now badging them as Dodge here in the US. They are also taking Mitsubishi SUVs and rebranding them as the Mercedes ML class.
I guess it's me, but putting a Mercedes Benz emblem on a Smart doesn't seem right. I can sort of understand the "powered by Mercedes-Benz" emblem on the older Smarts, but the Smart is just that, a Smart.
It's the same way with the Mini. There are no BMW rondels on a Mini.
That's because the original Mini Cooper was never a BMW made car until 1994 when they bought Rover of the UK. Since the new MINI was spun off of the original UK produced Mini (given a steroid shot or two) , they could not badge it with the BMW.
The Smart, on the other hand, was never made by anyone other than Mercedes Benz.
Most all cars have the Manufacturers logo and the model of the car on them, ie, the Ford Emblem and then Mustang or Taurus or whatever the car is.
I guess it's me, but putting a Mercedes Benz emblem on a Smart doesn't seem right. I can sort of understand the "powered by Mercedes-Benz" emblem on the older Smarts, but the Smart is just that, a Smart.
It's the same way with the Mini. There are no BMW rondels on a Mini.
That's because the original Mini Cooper was never a BMW made car until 1994 when they bought Rover of the UK. Since the new MINI was spun off of the original UK produced Mini (given a steroid shot or two) , they could not badge it with the BMW.
The Smart, on the other hand, was never made by anyone other than Mercedes Benz.
Most all cars have the Manufacturers logo and the model of the car on them, ie, the Ford Emblem and then Mustang or Taurus or whatever model Ford the car is.
My take on this: Putting a Mercedes badge on a smart is the exact equivalent of placing a Corvette badge on an Aveo or doing the same with a Lincoln and a Festiva. If people want to know what company manufactures it, I'm sure they'll ask.
A Corvette badge of Chevy is the equivalent of the Smart Badge of Mercedes Benz and marques of GM much like The Lincoln badge is of FoMoCo, Lincoln/Mercury---the marque. They are exclusive brands within the marque of each individual manufacturer. The Smart is an exclusive brand within the Mercedes marque and therefore, IMHO, I think it is Ok to have the Mercedes emblem on the Smart.
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