A MINI Cooper (not a Mini please, that is the old shape) has got pretty much the same wheelbase as a Honda CR-V SUV ! Now THAT is a waste of space.

Compared to a MINI the Smart is tiny. Like comparing a laptop with an 11″ screen with a 7″ screen.

Even the “small” Fiat 500 is a couple of ft longer.

In central London there is at least one car park that has special Smart car spaces, and people do park them “end on” although technically illegal.

MPG is not great, although the diesel version does 70mpg. I get over 40mp(UK)g from my Brabus version.

Expensive, yes.

Semi-Auto gearbox is awful, and is so slow sometimes you will think it is powered by Vista.

But it is hugely cute, and I drove mine 100 miles to a meeting today with no drama whatsoever. Not the car I would do that in every day, but I don’t recognise all this talk of lack of stabilty at speed.

Best bit is that the boot was designed to take two cases of beer !

However am changing it for a Fiat 500 next week after 3 happy years. The Fiat comes with Windows Mobile on board !!!!

A lot of folks, self included, are waiting for the BlueTec diesel version to be released here, at 70mpg…

Car Magazine U.K. had a great feature article a few years ago. They drove across the US in a Smart. It was on-line but I can no longer find it on their site. One photo of their Smart in the middle of Arizona looked like a lander on Mars!

I’d rather have a Fiat 500, than a Smart, but that’s just my bias for Italian cars showing.

Loving this website guys, keep it up. My thoughts on the smart car: I hate it. I too have been looking at small cars because of gasoline prices, and I can’t see why your friend purchased this one. Now this is just my random opinion, I’m not challenging anybody. But maybe you would agree with me.
-It is too small. It feels unsafe to go on the highway (even though it does have good crash ratings).When it is really windy, going 60+mph is just freaky, sometimes the wind blows it partially onto another lane.
-It only seats two. This is extremely unpractical. Small cars can still seat 4, like a mini cooper for example.
-The build quality is fine, but the materials used are kind of cheap for a car this pricey.I was very impressed with the mini cooper interior. Funky, cool. The smart car is bland and boring.

Hey bluemonq – we’ve probably met!!

So, it wasn’t so much a time to enter, but a decision to enter based on market demand, segregation from the core brand and marketing strategy and pricing. The market entry strategy for NA was developed about 2-3 years ago only, and therefore not based on the price of gas. Lucky entry point though.

It’s amazing how much time was needed to get into the US market! I indeed worked for Smart about 10 years ago when they introduced it in the Swiss market. We had to go through hours of lectures about safety features and design… and the result was that I am completely sold :)

Now if only they were having a less consuming engine. Indeed while it sounds great, the car transports only 2 persons. This makes the consumption per person pretty high. Oh yes maybe you should know that we pay about 8-9$ per gallon in Switzerland :)

@Nutsnbolts: While the convertible is $16K, the basic model starts at a little over $11K, and the upgraded (similar to the convertible, except without the retractable roof) is under $14K.

@kiwiruss: That seems a little on the low side for a Prius. My dad’s averaging 58MPG, and most of his driving is on the freeway. Might want to check the tire pressure. In any case, even if gas were to reach $10/gallon, the price difference between the cars would be enough to buy 1200 gallons, or enough to keep an average driver on the road an extra three years.

The smart cart in itself is expensive. I think about 16k..for that wee thing.

Indeed the prius is overall more efficient, (albeit 12,000-14,000$+ more expensive) But, the smart is the most fuel efficient combustion(gas) only car available in North America today.

Interesting buggy, but not as good as my toyota Prius.

I get 48mpg on the freeway and 55mpg around town and have tons more room.