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.