I swear, this looks like the makings of an enviro-wacko’s version of Herbie! It appears the numbers of “orphaned” Smart cars are growing.
USA Today’s Chris Woodyard had a story today of the ordered, but abandoned Smart cars piling up on the Smart Center lots around the country.
Tiny Smart cars are stacking up at some of the 75 U.S. Smart dealers because people who ordered them are refusing to take delivery.
Cheaper fuel prices blunt the appeal of Smart’s 36 mile-per-gallon rating, and the recession has scared off some who ordered.
The $99 deposit a buyer must put down to order a car is refundable, so it’s easy to say “no.”
The development is fouling up Smart’s sales system. It relies on Internet ordering and no costly dealer inventories.
But the good news for the homeless, ugly buggers is, most are still selling in an average of 28 days. Fire sale perhaps? That may be much faster than the conventional car sales, but it’s twice as long as it took during the $4+ gallon of gas prices last summer.
But what a hoot it would be if Daimler ended up needing a bailout for their Smart car production…. too delicious an irony, I suspect.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
Nahhhh….they are now lining up for the Tata Nano 🙂
I heard about those, Timothy… almost a twin in the butt ugly department…
But I have to say, the Tata Nano is *much* prettier on the price tag. $2500 US dollars for the Indian made car. The US Smart car’s 2008 price tag for the Smart fortwo was $16,590, and the 2009 price tag jumped to $16,990.
could the American People be this smart LOL pun I know?
Dubai buys Daimler shares
JANUARY 31, 2005
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/30/business/ibrief.php
The government of Dubai said on Sunday that it had bought a $1 billion stake in DaimlerChrysler
Catherine
Maybe they should have named it Barbie Girl there is already a song and everything but the crunch in those death traps are the real killer.
hwy driving in them is hell big trucks blow them off the road?
Picture out of my hotel window, in Berlin, Germany; taken three days ago.
http://weisenthal.org/myamerica/Smart_Cars.jpg
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
~~~
Mata Note: Took the liberty of embedding it for you, Larry… *Thanks! By the way, the cars make sense only from a parking point of view. There are many streets in Berlin which are only wide enough for parallel parking, but they were converted to angle (actually 90 degree angle) parking. “Regular” cars must pull half way up on the sidewalk, to keep their butts out of the traffic lane. “Smart” cars can just pull their front wheels up to the curb. This more than doubles the parking capacity of a typical city block, compared to parallel parking. – Larry W/HB
First stop after picking one of these up should be the Undertaker. Make arrangements to be buried in it since it’s smaller than a casket. $16.900 about the average price of a funeral.
I’m not surprised. These seem to be nothing but a “status” car bought by those who wanted to be seen as economizing. They appear to make NO sense in the US where even most on-street parking is marked off in spaces sized for normal cars. You can buy other cars that get just as many miles per gallon with more comfort and safety. I have to admit, though, I don’t know the price. If they are super cheap, it could be a selling point. Oh, I see now after initially posting that the price tag is > $16K. I don’t see the attraction.
After a headon with a truck it will be a lot smaller than a casket. Maybe O’Dumbo will get one. Squeeze the BS out of him and bury him in a matchbox.
There ya go with the unattractive morbidity, again, Scrapiron. I don’t like this TOTUS policies. I do not, however, wish him physical ill-will. I’m asking you to please rein in your comments on this subject.
I saw one of those on the highway yesterday. It was a windy day and the driver was all over the road. It would seem they are not made for any wind, either. It also was the most butt ugly thing I’ve seen in a long time. It was fascinating, though. The driver turned off shortly after I first noticed it, so maybe he was sick of steering it.
#7 It would be a great car for ODumbo. Plenty of head room for the teleprompters!
we have a client with one of these and i was interested to look at one close up. not for me, way small, very way small. the client says that she has to drive her suv on very wndy days because part of her drive to work is one a very breezy stretch of road on a calm day. she said if she knew there would be so many days that it had to stay home she never would have bought it.
Consumer Reports panned the “Smart Car” on performance, cost and safety. The article also noted that the thing actually requires premium gasoline! I’m guessing that same sense of irony that must pervade Daimler’s marketing department, as demonstrated by naming this sled “Smart”, is very much present in the designer(s) of this substandard vehicle.
I wouldn’t want one myself – due to it only having two seats and being costly for what it is. Safety-wise apparently they are good for small cars.
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/are-smart-cars-safe-479730.html
I am waiting for some enterprising soul to start making mini-monster truck versions of this and the cooper and other such bread boxes on wheels.
Our Buick LeSabre gets 30-33 mph, doesn’t have to use premium, seats five comfortably, has a great big trunk and it’s paid for. Forking out almost $17,000 to gain 5 mph for an ugly car driven maybe 8 or 9,000 miles a year at the most would not be worth it, hubby would never plank his bottom in something like that anyway.
On our couple of trips to Colorado each year, we’d get blown off I-80 going through that windy stretch in Wyoming, would not be able to get luggage, the dog, his stuff and grandkid’s goodies in it. It’s not for us, never, ever.
Pretty sloppy Mata. Why would you need a bailout for a car that’s moving off the lot three times as fast as the national average? It would seem from reading the article the only reason for the pile up is a gimicky online ordering system that let’s buyers off the hook too easily.
It is definately a niche vehicle though. I would never try to drive one on a highway. It would be perfect for Charleston’s tight streets and crowded parking. I’d get one if I didn’t have three kids…
The car is a sad joke. Saving money on gas is NOT worth my life.
I refuse to drive anything that can be taken out by a ten-speed.
Ummmm unfit, the sales of gas saving cars like the fit are waaaaayyyyyy down.
Sales of regular cars are way down too. So your 3x claim isn’t
impressive.
Fit, you again demonstrate your inability to comprehend the English language.
The headline is a question… note the question mark? The last two paragraphs state they are… at this time… moving off the lots. With increasing unemployment, and the high price tag for an inferior and less safe vehicle, can that be a guarantee for the future?
No… there are no guarantees.
So I specifically stated it would be a delicious irony if the Smart Car ended up being a catalyst for a needed bailout. I did *not* say they needed a bailout now.
Sloppy? Only your reading comprehension fits that bill.
Mata, There was no basis for you to intelligently propose the possiblity. The facts in your post contradict the speculation.
I would say the vast majority of people in America would not find this car appropriate for their lifestyle, but millions would.
Finally, finding ways to use less oil doesn’t have to be a concern for the carbon club. Using less means less demand for foreign oil and is a better use of our own. I don’t see why you would take pleasure in seeing efforts like this fail.
A few years ago there would be no basis in facts for auto bailouts either, Fit. Unlike your thinking prowess, life is not stagnant in the turn of events.
In this, one may only consider that with which you agree.. that this car is not appropriate for the vast majority of Americans. Yet we have a President and a panel of auto czars who are assuming power to dictate the production line and costs to US auto makers, in exchange for bail out money. And this group is bent on a future world comprised of “smart cars”. Wake up and smell the roses before the bloom falls off the bush, please.
Lastly, you have a strange way of stringing thoughts together. Perhaps you’d like to show me where in my four paragraphs of personal opine that I took “pleasure in seeing efforts like this fail”? Let me rephrase my post for you, and anyone else who is reading challenged.
1: Increasing numbers of people are abandoning their orders of Smart cars for sundry reasons… economic hardship, or no longer desiring the car.
2: That continued behavior could lead to a bailout
3: And there would be a delicious irony in having to bail out the very car design that this administration is attempting to shove down the auto makers and taxpayers throats. Meaning, perhaps the Zero leader is not able to tell the US public what we want afterall.
Instead you accuse me of having a disregard for use of oil, or pleasure in using less oil. Might I say you need a refund on your education, dude? That’s quite a leap, even for a primary level reader.
I’ve been on record here since my presence that I am all for an “all of the above” approach, but not an “all at once” approach like Obama is taking.
Nor do I want the government to be owners of alternative energy.
I will not support the government removing choice of vehicles. That’s a free market decision.
And most especially, I don’t believe this is the time to be increasing energy costs to the consumers.
Lastly, if they want the US to buy these cars, they’d better bring the price down.
I think for any individuals or couples who mainly do most of their travelling in and around urban centres – small cars like these can make sense to them. It seems somehow a part of American pride is wrapped in how BIG it’s cars are whether having a big car is appropriate or not for their needs. You wouldn’t want such a car if you are planning a cross country trek but for going to work or nipping to the shops – for some it might be fine.
As it seems to be selling better than average cars despite the downturn effecting it as well – if the Smart Car was in need of a bailout then I guess the whole US car industry would be screwed. Oh it already is…