Contrary to past media reports, the Smart brand will not join the likes of Plymouth, Scion, and Pontiac in the great automotive graveyard. If that’s a good thing in your books, send a note of thanks to China’s Geely Holding, savior of Volvo and Lotus.
On Thursday, Smart parent company Daimler and Geely announced a 50:50 joint venture to develop and build a new generation of global-market Smart models in China.
It’s good news for fans of the brand’s diminutive city cars, the existence of which was threatened by declining sales, financial losses, and a development partner (Renault) with cold feet. Daimler’s incoming CEO, Ola Källenius, was reportedly prepared to drop Smart like a hot potato in order to stem the red ink.
Smart moved to EQ-badged, electric-only models in North America in 2018, with the rest of the world following for the 2020 model year. The plan was built on shaky financial ground. Electromobility is still in its infancy, the Smart Fortwo’s range didn’t impress, and the cost associated with developing a new range of vehicles without a partner’s help might have been too much for Daimler to stomach.
Geely to the rescue.
“Under the joint venture agreement, a new generation of smart electric models will be] assembled at a new purpose-built electric car factory in China with global sales due to begin in 2022,” the two automakers said in a statement.
Geely knows electrics, and so does its home market. For Daimler, it’s an opportunity to keep the brand alive on the cheap while reducing its emissions footprint in regions that care about that kind of thing.
“We will jointly design and develop the next generation of smart electric cars that combine high-quality production and known safety standards for sale both in China and globally. In the future, we are looking forward to working with all partners to sustain our success in China and worldwide,” said Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche in a joint media release.
“Separately, Mercedes-Benz will produce a compact electric vehicle at the [French] Hambach plant, sustaining employment with further investment in the facility.”
Six executives, split evenly between both automakers, will sit on the board of the new joint venture.
Geely Chairman Li Shufu said his company respects the “value of Smart,” adding Geely Holding Chairman, adding, “This brand has a unique appeal and strong commercial value.”
Until new Smarts begin rolling out of China, Daimler plans to continue production of existing models at its two European plants. The automakers noted that Mercedes-Benz will handle the next-gen Smart’s design while Geely handles the engineering. A move up in size is planned, too. The companies said a B-segment Smart will accompany the new electrics.
[Image: Daimler AG]
Smart, the new badge engineering dumping ground for poor quality chinese cars.
As opposed to the French-built Smart cars, which represent the pinnacle of automotive engineering.
And this has nothing to do, nothing whatsoever at all, with Geely’s 9.7% shareholding in Daimler. Purely coincidental. Geely is their largest single shareholder.
Suckers!
Such a shame.
This is the definition of “throwing good money after bad”.
“This brand has a unique appeal and strong commercial value.” –Nobody believes that.
OK, these cars are ugly, they’re tiny, they’re slow, and you couldn’t get me to buy one at gunpoint. But in a sea of CUVs that all look alike, they stand out. They’re unique. They’re not uninteresting.
I say huzzah!
The fact that there hasn’t been a Smart CUV yet is one of the great mysteries of the automotive industry
There was supposed to be one back about 9 years ago. At the time there was only the fortwo but they had two new models in development and one was an off-roader type. I think the other was a 4dr of some sort.
These are rear-wheel-drive and, technically, mid-engined. With the right gas engine, manual transmission, and suspension setup these could actually be fun to drive. Dare I say they could be more fun than something like a Fiat Abarth or Miata?
You could swap in the AMG V8 if you didn’t have the need for seats.
Hyabusas work well:
youtube.com/watch?v=AgwzHJo3IXM
“This brand has a unique appeal and strong commercial value.”
(laughter fading in the distance as he is being led away)
Beauty is definitively in the eye of the beholder.
Now how about other zombie brand SAAB? And why China did not rescue Scion and Saturn?
An electric Smart makes a cheeky personal transport pod, but they’ve got to about double the range without changing the price, and that’s not going to be easy.