U.S. smart fortwo sales so strong, Penske wants 15,000 more
 

Filed under: Car Buying, Economy, Plants/Manufacturing, Mercedes Benz, SMART
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.au..._09_450-op.jpg
Click above for a high-res gallery of the smart fortwo.

Roger Penske, the CEO of the company's namesake and the sole importer of the smart brand into the U.S., says that with demand at its current level, dealers could offload 40,000 fortwos to customers this year. The only problem: the U.S. market is only getting 25,000.

Penske is currently talking with Mercedes-Benz, smart's parent company, to see if it can ship more fortwos Stateside in the coming months, but that looks unlikely considering that the smart factory is running at full bore for the year.

Smart expects to sell 3,000 fortwos in the first quarter of this year through the 67 dealers (mainly Mercedes-Benz dealerships that have bought a franchise) currently in the U.S. That number is expected to increase to 74 by the end of the year. Although pre-order cancellation numbers haven't been officially released, some dealers are anticipating that around 25-percent of potential buyers that put down the required $99 deposit might opt out of the diminutive coupe. Thankfully, smart dealers in the U.S. have agreed not to mark up the cars at the risk of loosing their franchise, according to the president of smart USA, David Schembri.

Gallery: smart fortwo
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.au..._thumbnail.jpghttp://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.au..._thumbnail.jpghttp://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.au..._thumbnail.jpghttp://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.au..._thumbnail.jpghttp://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.au..._thumbnail.jpg

[Source: Autoweek]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments


More...
Autoblog
2008-03-25T16:28:00+00:00

if Penske would get off his but and stop the issue with the FL dealerships and their "doc fees"... then there might be even more buyers!

How much are those Smart Cars?

base is around 11k

then the FL dealers tack on a $400(highest was $800 by the orlando dealership but dropped down to $400 after a lot of people complained.. a lot are still complainging since "doc fees" are nothing but pure profit... FL sucks.. the insurance companies wrote the laws and car dealerships can do what ever they want to do)

I guess $11K doesn't sound bad for a new car, even one that small. The fuel economy is tempting, but I just dont know if I could drive something so small.

Penske should have basic guidelines re prices and Mark up over and above retail


The New Smart looks like a Hit as The Old Body Smart Got better MPG but was Not as Pretty on the inside

I Drove my Smart here in the States for several years..NO Problems..
Great MPG 50Plus with the A/C on...Easy to park ..two in one stall

Mercedes lost out on another great idea..Go Penske!

Mercedes Might learn from this and bring in the A Class W168 W169

I saw one over the past couple weeks and got to talking with the owner and he let me sit inside of it. I was surprised at the interior space:). Neat little car.

I've seen them on the road, but not inside. I'm starting to see them more often now.