Smart Fortwo sales plunge in 2009 in U.S.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I was going to resist commenting on yet another inane "safety" thread... but I can't help it. When pussies go out on the road, is it in order to go somewhere, or is it to crash into something? Seriously, think of the odds.

Thats why I still drive a motorcycle, a comutacar and a subaru 360, safety.

[Christ]

I consider motorcycles (when operated responsibly) safer than cars for collision odds. Why? It's less than 1/4 the width of the average car... which means you have 75% better chance of avoiding what would have been an offset frontal impact in a car.

I actually say this about any smaller vehicle. It's smaller, which makes it harder to hit, so in the scheme of things, the idea of crash safety being half of a larger vehicle is negated by the odds of being hit also being half.

Before anyone comments on it, I already know that this is called fuzzy logic, and it's a twisted way to look at it. I don't really care, though, because in some way, it does actually make sense.

[Arragonis]

The ForTwo sales have been dropping for a while here in Europe. Safety doesn't seem to be an issue for most people but stability can be. I did see one on the wet, cobbled streets of Edinburgh manage to plow straight on and took out a parked Audi when they first came out.

I had one of these for a while :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ewoo_Matiz.jpg

which also had extremely skinny tyres and it felt unsafe on those cobbled streets. Mind you it also had a body made of such thin metal that a dent remover working on the bonnet (hood) just used his fingers, no tools!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I never got really so excited about the Smart, but I like its rear engine layout. But I wouldn't ever actually buy a Smart, I'd rather build a tricycle (which could be fitted with the 800cc diesel used in the Smart).

[Arragonis]

Apparently (according to Car Mechanics mag which is recommissioning an old ForTwo as a project) the Smart engines are not all that good - they seem to burn a lot of oil and that leads to valves burning out and eventually a cylinder stops working and so on.

1.2 3cyl TDI would be a better option IMHO, or the more common 1.4 3cyl. They also have the option of a 6 speed in some cases and could be mid-mounted by putting the power unit at the back.

[gone-ot]

2009 was four years ago, what are the current sales numbers like?

[MetroMPG]

Off the proverbial cliff:

Year: U.S. Sales, Canadian Sales
2004: -----, 915
2005: -----, 4080
2006: -----, 3023
2007: -----, 2433
2008: 24,622, 3749
2009: 14,595, 2667
2010: 5927, 2019
2011: 5208, 1851
2012 YTD: 7311, 1868

Source: Smart Fortwo Sales Figures - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

[shovel]

Unless you live somewhere that offers a serious parking advantage, I just don't see the point.

A Hyundai Accent is the same price, twice the seats, twice the horsepower, better highway fuel efficiency and similar city fuel efficiency, better looking and has a better warranty. A Nissan Versa sits between the two on power and fuel economy but can be had for two grand less and still has a back seat. I think both Nissan and Hyundai are brands that have proven themselves in recent years to be reliable too, so there's not much of a quality question.

[Arragonis]

TBH these things were / are pretty pointless as cars. If you want / need such minimal driving and only 2 seats it seems like an MX-5 or similar would be a better bet. The For-Two coupe is nice though, still has the crappy engines and gearboxes though, and is no longer made.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by shovel

Unless you live somewhere that offers a serious parking advantage, I just don't see the point.

Pretty much. Only person I've ever heard of buying one lives in NYC and likes how it can be parked pretty much anywhere.

I'm in Berkeley and sometimes there are pretty tight spots that a Smart could easily get into while my (already VERY short) MR2 can't. I once found a spot that I spent maybe 3 whole minutes inching my car into, which a Smart could just drive right into. But 90% of the time I can squeeze into any reasonable gap.

If the car really needs to be small, it would seem that an old AW11 or ZZW30 MR2, any Miata, Mazda 2, Veloster, etc. would be a far better overall car at the expense of not being able to squeeze into the smallest 10 foot gaps for parking.