Article: Smart car scores hat trick in Canada - now cheapest new car available

[MetroMPG]

From the Ottawa Citizen: Three times a winner - Made-over Smart ForTwo is Canada's smallest, cheapest, most fuel-efficient non-hybrid car

The smart in Canada has been marketed since day one as a "premium" small car - the starting price for the base model used to be about $17,000 CDN.

But with the change of the Canadian buck relative to the $USD, and the $2k federal efficiency rebate, you can now walk out the door ... I mean, drive off the lot ... with a base smart for a tiny bit less than a Chevy Aveo.

The final price of the made-in-France Smart is effectively $12,990, just enough to beat the Korean-built Chevy Aveo/Pontiac Wave twins, which have a list price of $12,995.

This new price point is a significant psychological barrier. The Smart has always been seen as frugal and green, but its high premium over other entry-level subcompacts from Korea and Japan has limited its acceptance.

The rest of the review is pretty standard fare - digs at the automated manual transmission, etc.

This bit made me chuckle though:

While 0-100 km/h acceleration times have improved [with the bigger gasoline engine], down to about 13 seconds, it does not seem that much faster. Then again, if you are buying a car for its gas mileage, would you care how fast you can go?

A mainstream publication asking the general public such a question? Sacrilege!

While a low price is desirable in any economy car, the 2008 Smart ForTwo impresses with its combination of its extremely low fuel consumption, low emissions footprint and compact size for urban use.

What I find most satisfying about the situation with the Aveo is that when the federal efficiency rebate program began, GM was asked if they were considering modifying the Aveo to improve its efficiency & get the car into rebate territory: "Nope."

[Peakster]

That's a massive reduction in purchase price. I always thought the smarts here were way too expensive for how much car you get. Beating the Aveo in pricing will be very beneficial for sales.

[johnpr]

hmmm, if they come to the states around that price i might consider getting one for commutes, but then again, by the time im ready to buy one i wont want to because i'll be living in florida again where i walk and bike everywhere!!

[MetroMPG]

Well, apparently they're even cheaper in the US. If you get a stripped base model, it's 11,590.00. (According to smartusa.com.)
Are there any cars that cost less than that (sticker price) in the US?

[Ryland]

I saw an add in the paper just today for the Aveo, and I'm pretty sure that it was listed at $7,900 or so.

[johnpr]

yeah, i bought a saturn a few years ago new for about 10k but still, 11,590 is a good price, i still might consider one ehh, i'll probably end up doing an ev mod though so who knows

[Peakster]

Holy moly. Looks like Canadians should buy cars in the USA and bring them up here at those prices!

[johnpr]

thats an idea but wouldnt the exchange rate and import fees kinda kill that idea?? (not sure what the exchange rate is at lately so it might not be to bad with the falling usd)

[Peakster]

We do have to pay a Goods and Services Tax and a Provincial Sales Tax (except when importing through Alberta) but we'd have to pay that whether we bought in Canada or imported from the USA. With the current Canadian dollar being 94 cents to the US dollar, it would make total sense to by a $7,900 Aveo down there than a $12,995 Aveo up here.

[MetroMPG]

Our two dollars have been hovering around parity for about 4 months.

This has become a big issue up here, and a record number of new US vehicles were brought into the country in recent months.

The dealers & manufacturers don't like it, of course. One way they discourage it is by denying warranty coverage on US-bought vehicles.

===

Update to the premise of the Smart article quoted above:

I just did a bit of digging @ Toyota.ca, and the base price of a stripped '08 3 door Yaris is $13,165 CDN. Apply the efficiency rebate ($1K in this case) to that car, and it becomes the cheapest vehicle available here @ $12,165.

I should check in with the local Toyota dealer on that.

[jesse.rizzo]

The new Hyundai Accent hatchback has a MSRP of $10,775. I'm not sure if it qualifies for any rebates or anything like that.

[Lazarus]

Even with the gasoline engine and the crummy mileage, compared to the diesel, it has quite a bit of bang for the buck. Those other cars have an advantage that they can seat more then two despite the lower mileage.

[DifferentPointofView]

Doesn't NAFTA come into play? Yea, I see Aveo's all the time for really cheap. I even saw one for the 06' model year end clearence for $5999.99. You should come down and grab some low hanging fruit.

What I don't get though is how My mom's Caliber has a destination charge, but was made right here in IL?

[johnpr]

well it sure does sound like a good deal to buy the vehicles in the states then. just a thought on the destination charge, it might be because they still have to deliver it to the dealership :shrug: anyhow i think destination charges are a huge rip off, ( i could drive to manufacturing plant pick up the vehicle and drive it home for less than what they charge!!)

[SVOboy]

I wouldn't call the aveo low hanging fruit for buyers...more like people who accidently buy one are low-hanging fruit for the automakers.

[MetroMPG]

The big auto news today for the CDN market: apparently when I noticed the Yaris price, I was a day ahead of the press release. Toyota Canada has chopped prices across the board here to bring them closer in line with $USD figures.

They're still not going to be even, and the excuse they use is Canadian market cars have different equipment packages. We have a stricter bumper standard, mandatory DRL's, etc.

So the smart article is outdated already: officially the cheapest new car here is a 3-door Yaris 5-speed with the $1K federal efficiency rebate.

---

Ben: zinger on the low-hanging fruit line!

DPV & johnpr: the Canadian dealers/manufacturers are doing all they can to make life miserable for people who try to bring home US purchased new cars. But the price adjustments we're seeing proves what consumers care about most.

Laz: I think Canada's going to sell a boatload of the new smarts here (despite the thirsty gas motor) with the shift from "premium" to "bargain" pricing. I wouldn't be surprised to find out they at least double their sales volumes.

[AndrewJ]

I think that the "thirstyness" of the smarts gas motor has to be put in context of the new (stricter) 2008 EPA ratings that they're being rated under. At 41 mpg (08 rated) that's pretty good considering that my CX is only EPA rated for 36 mpg under the 08 EPA rating system.
So in the good old days of "unrealistic" EPA ratings the smart would get a combined rating of approximately 47mpg. That's not too shabby.

[MetroMPG]

Valid point.

But I was thinking more of the diesel model it's replacing when I said that. Lucky Canadians have been buying the significantly more efficient diesel version for 3 or 4 years up until the redesign with the new powerplant.