Smart if mostly a show-off car in a lot of countries, I would definitely not classify it as fuel-efficient means of transportation because it has only 2 seats, not much space if at all for luggage, fuel-consumption is quite high for such a small car (albeit in USA there's nothing much fuel-efficient wise to compare it with).
Here in CY for example, Smart is a hot toy for boys and girls , a lot of specially built BRABUS, etc.
I would like to get my hands on the
turbo-diesel model if I would use it as a commuter but surely that's not available in the US.
Although I'd take the Audi A2 1.2 TDI any day or the more recent 1.2 TDI VW Polo BlueMotion...
You can probably find a 1gen Insight for the same price range of a used smart. That's definitely making a eco-statement.
Have a look here as well:
Link