More Smarts Please, I'm Losin' It

[spikey01]

Dear Mr. Penske.
I'd like to point out that there are millions of people in the USA who would like to buy a Smart and can't because
there aren't any to be had. (I am one such person - I've been waiting for a year and the good people at Smart say I have another year to go. Which makes my heart heavy. I want to drive around LA in my Smart tootling and yelling, "Fun Fun Fun" and 40 miles a gallon!"
I figure you, being one of the smartest people in the auto business, can figure out the solution to a 50,000 demand and 24,000 cars a year being imported.
You have to admit, 2 years is Lamborghini and Ferrari territory for waiting lists.
So how about this for a solution? Build a Smart factory in America. I hear there are a couple lying fallow in the South. A factory, maybe not as slick as Smartville, but as capable of cranking out 50.000 cars on three shifts (America Needs Jobs). Would blow off the excess demands and make Smart Cars as common as Volkswagen Bugs on American Roads.
Don't you think asking people to wait 2 to three years to partake of the pleasures of smartdom is a little CRAZY.
C'mon. You and your business cohorts have the requisite large piles of cash and influential connections to make this work.
Everybody Happy.

[SubSlr88]

I'll vote for that Mr. Penske . . . I'm looking at over a year wait and would love to get my hands on a smart quicker without having to pay the 'scalpers' out there $3-5K over cost for one.
Anything you can do to fill up the pipeline faster would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.

[SuperGeek]

Consider the alternative... they immediately produce 100,000 of a new design (the 451 is different enough from the 450), and there's some design flaw that only is noticed after 3,000 miles. Or the shifter gets stuck, or some valve problem crops up. Fix it on 100,000 and have that many angry owners ready to say bad things about the car? What if the small size and engine make it unsuitable for the general American public? I can understand them making a deliberate choice to keep production low in the first year. Remember, the smart isn't the golden child in Europe that it is here. Given the past trouble, I see caution as a very wise choice. Plus, the slack-jawed response I get out of some of the passing Southern Bulls tells me that the car's not for everyone. It would take a revolution of sorts in the industry for a car this small to be accepted; something that would cause a "demise" of the American SUV. Hmm, looks like they timed it well... but they couldn't have predicted this while they were planning the USA release years ago.

That said, I think the smart has passed phase 1 in the USA and is ready for phase 2. Bring 'em on.

[bull8042]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

......Plus, the slack-jawed response I get out of some of the passing Southern Bulls tells me that the car's not for everyone. ......

I agree with your post, but I don't there is a need to talk bad about me!