Right on, Carnut. I just got done reading this at the Daimler site. Good posting.

 

Any photos on the site of the inside the 11 is tomrrow?

 

Daimler's Gobal Media site

The article is from media.daimler.com. Daimler's Gobal Media site.

Main category: Mercedes-Benz Cars smart
Specials Marketing & Communications
Date: Oct 10, 2007

The only picture they have is this one.

Not much to do with their temporary showroom.

I'm sure there will be more pictures in the following days.

 

I have to wonder if Penske and/or MB is planning on seriously increasing the number of cars they're going to bring into the US. With a 25% attrition rate, they'll be more than 22,500 cars pre-ordered, plus the road tour isn't over, plus the smart house, plus the creation of a number of smart centers. While waits for new and trendy cars aren't unexpected (and just builds up the hype, ala the Prius), who can really say they can wait 12 months or more for a new car?

 

While waits for new and trendy cars aren't unexpected (and just builds up the hype, ala the Prius), who can really say they can wait 12 months or more for a new car?

My wife has had her car for 18 years. Another year isn't a big deal for her, and she'll wait longer for something else if she isn't satisfied with the actual car that they end up introducing (mostly the tranny unknown).

 

Venice Beach/Los Angeles, CA. An exclusive studio building on Abbot Kinney Boulevard will be transformed into the “smart house” for four months starting October 11, 2007, serving as the springboard for the US market launch of the smart car. smart has begun preparations in the heart of the hip Venice Beach district, setting up a temporary showroom to demonstrate to customers, journalists and VIPs that the smart fortwo is much more than just an economical, compact, and safe automobile.
“The smart house will present the world and lifestyle of a typical smart driver and convey the intrinsic values of this unique city car, showing visitors that bigger is not always better,” says Anders Sundt Jensen, responsible for brand management at smart. “We are putting forward a very personalized brand image, from the interior design to the presentation of the favorite leisure activities of smart drivers and their attitudes to topics like the environment,” continues Jensen.
As well as portraying the vibe of the smart generation, the smart house will also provide product information. Prospective buyers can receive consultation, configure their own smart and take a test drive. Four smart fortwos will be on display inside the house. In the lively Venice Beach district, it will soon become clear that the smart fortwo loves cities and cities love smart – few other cars in the US are getting as much attention as the smart fortwo is right now.
Trendsetters can reserve their very own smart fortwo on the spot. And they are in good company; over 30,000 Americans have already reserved a fortwo on the company’s website.
There will be a great deal of hustle and bustle in the smart house too. Events relating to the areas of environment and climate protection, music, fashion, fine arts and zeitgeist will fill the smart house from top to bottom, making it a platform for the brand’s lifestyle. The special events will include an unplugged concert by Piers Faccini, and Californian artist Joel Tauber will exhibit his works on the topic of environment and sustainability.
This project will see smart build on its growing affinity for the arts and the pulse of the age. Since 1998, smart has worked in close collaboration with musicians, fashion designers and artists. Since its inception, smart has been inseparably linked with innovation, the development of new ideas and unconventional ways of thinking. It is these principles that smart is looking to export to the US before the official sales launch in January 2008.
The smart house on Abbot Kinney Boulevard 1319, Venice Beach, Los Angeles California is open from 11 October 2007 to 25 January 2008; Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

All sounds a bit snooty. I'm guessing the typical buyer is a bit more down-to-earth.

 

All sounds very Venice Beach. See the linked video piece from the LA times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jahDcy9x0w

 

Hmmmmmmmm. If you watch the L.A. Times video there is STARTLING news at the end when it posts the specs.

EPA rating 31 mpg City, 43 mpg highway.

Oh Oh!

 

EPA Rating

EPA rating 31 mpg City, 43 mpg highway.

That info may be a little erroneous and premature; the EPA hasn't listed the 2008 smart yet. Watch this site: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

 

With all due respect, the EPA list on the link is missing other 2008 cars that might not have been posted as yet. i.e Yaris, Mercedes new C Class, etc.

 

A couple of things that some people miss:
(1) The EPA does not do the testing. The manufacturers are responsible to do to testing to the EPA standard and report the findings to the EPA.
(2) There is some time allowed after a vehicle's physical introduction (30 days, 60 days?) to submit the reports to the EPA.

So, it isn't unreasonable to see a lot of 2008 vehicles still missing in early October 2007.

BTW, the crash testing to the prevailing standard is also the responsibility of the manufacturer; afterwards the manufacturer must submit a certificate of compliance to the NHTSA. The separate IIHS crash testing is not all-inclusive and has no bearing on the ability to market the vehicle. Many vehicles are never tested.

 

I sounds like it should have been the speculated 41 mpg city not 31 mpg city.

 

It is very unlikely that city and hwy mileage are within two points. There's usually at least a 5-6 point spread and 12 is not unlikely given how small the engine is and how hard it has to work to accelerate. If the 31 and 43 are true, I'm afraid my wife will opt for a normally aspirated Cooper instead that will average almost the same (32/40) and perform substantially better (0-60, 8.5sec)

Let's hope there is a misprint somewhere.

 

Old Information?

I don't know when the LA Times video was made, but the information it contains is quite old. Dan Neil's original review of the smart appeared in the LA Times in May, and was reworked for the SF Chronicle in June.

That piece ended with the exact same list of "facts" as the video, including the unconfirmed pricing, 0-60 time and slightly misquoted horsepower. It also cited identical gas mileage numbers, but without labeling them as "EPA estimates".

I suspect the last frame of the video was simply copied from this article, and the EPA label was added by someone who misunderstood the actual origin of the information.

 

NHTSA DOT and EPA

I believe as this email perhaps supports that Daimler has the power and can supply data and attach certification that meets our EPA with less barricades than some start up company or a non compliant car that is imported by a Register Importer?

I sense the Smart could have passed both DOT and EPA standards long ago if the powers to be sought for certification.

I

 

SmartAmerica, I concur with what you are saying.

I am sure that Daimler is already in a position to certify the smart from both an emissions and a safety perspective. The necessary FMVSS crash testing would have been conducted at an early stage in the 451's design cycle, when any modifications would be relatively easy to make.

I am also sure that Daimler knows exactly how the smart will perform in the NCAP ("star rating") tests, having also carried out these in the privacy of their own facilities. When they say they "expect a four-star rating", you can be sure they have some data to base this on.

Likewise with the mileage estimates: I believe that the 40mpg figure is being touted by smart USA because Daimler has already conducted the standard 2008 EPA tests and 40mpg is the resulting "combined" number.

Incidently, if you check the EPA website, there are only two vehicles currently on sale in the US that achieve a combined mileage of better than 35mpg under the new 2008 standards. They are the Honda Civic Hybrid (42) and Toyota Prius (46).

 

Carnut-
Please post the link for that most disturbing news.

 

Here's a repeat of the link as requested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jahDcy9x0w