Minicar makes automotive giant look dumb

[dArKeR]

How did a pint-sized car named Smart manage to make DaimlerChrysler look, well, dumb? On Friday, the German carmaker announced that it would drastically scale back its troubled Smart division, eliminating two models and cutting 700 employees, at a cost of up to 1.2 billion euros (US$1.55 billion).

The move came after DaimlerChrysler racked up years of losses, as it struggled with Smart's high production costs and cumbersome distribution network, which had been kept separate from existing Mercedes dealerships.

DaimlerChrysler's missteps, critics said, hobbled what should have been a car that is perfect for its times: fuel-efficient and tiny enough so that two could fit into the parking space of a single full-size US car.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2005/04/03/2003248961

[sendero]

1. Yet another company..

.... snatches defeat from the jaws of victory :)

[dArKeR]

2. And oil is going to US$80 barrel and they're giving up?

[tomreedtoon]

3. Could it be...the Yugo 2?

Just because something "looks good ecologically" on paper doesn't make this car the Salvation of the Planet. For years, when General Motors ran an exhibit at Walt Disney World, they showed footage of a neat-looking little 3-wheel vehicle. It was essentially a motorized tricycle with an enclosed cockpit. It boasted 200 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency. It had a "cambered" suspension that tilted the way a motorcycle does, you could drive it in rain without getting wet, and you had storage space for grocery bags and other items.

This always wowed them whenever the footage was shown. Holy Moley, this would be the Car That Saved The Planet.

Except for one thing. It flipped over quite a bit when making turns. Its "revolutionary suspension, built so much like a horse going around a curve" tended to skid on slippery roads. It was slightly less safe than driving around a top-heavy SUV in the rain with greased tires.

This is the reason for research and development, folks...one of the things in which most big megacorps will NOT invest. Don't be so blinded by the quotes that leak out about some researcher's pet project that you ignore the flaws in these new gadgets.

For all we know, having not seen this Smart car, its body could have been made out of tinfoil and the inside insulated with ragweed.

[Bamboo]

4. Downshift to use cigarette lighter.

I was reading a Smart owners manual and there is a switch on the dash to change the headlight angle based on the number of people in the car-more weight will make the nose drop so the lights need to be pointed higher.They also recommend pulling the handbrake to help stop downhill,apparently the front and rear brake systems are not connected.People are paying more for gas and charging it so the credit card companies must be happy that fuel efficient cars are rare.I bought new tires for my Honda which are low rolling resistance like the type on hybrids,I pop out of gear and coast much more than before which is neat.Americans will keep paying more for gas because they are buying more than gas they are buying the American way of life.

[Warpy]

5. It sounds like Chrysler execs overruled Daimler execs

and did the usual Detroit thing of making an efficient car cheesy and unconfortalbe.

If they bother to work out the obvious design disasters on this little care, I can see its being the car of the future, taking over where the old VW Beetle left off.

Their timing is OK for Europe, but there's no way they could sell it in the US right now, not even if they'd made it a SMART car instead of a dumb design car. The roads are clogged with behemoths like king cab F-150s and momvans, not to mention oversized SUVs. Ordinary US passenger cars are hard enough to drive these days.

[On the Road]

6. Those Things Kill Me

In Europe, some people park them like this:

[mhr]

7. I Think They Are Way Cool - I'd Love To Have One!