Smart car only fits an itsy-bitsy niche

ByABC News
November 30, 2007, 2:03 AM

— -- German automaker Daimler promised in 2004 to get its minuscule Smart car into U.S. showrooms in 2005, and has been hemming and hawing ever since about whether it would offer the half-a-parking-space-size Smart in America.

Smart dealers are signed up in 50 cities and will open in time for the early January introduction of the tiny Smart two-seater.

More than 75,000 people have attended Smart driving events in 50 cities. Smart USA President Dave Schembri says 92% of 40,000 surveyed afterward said they could see themselves driving a Smart.

Safety concerns are a big issue, Schembri acknowledges. Mercedes-Benz, also owned by Daimler, engineered a safety cage to protect occupants in a crash.

Still, fatality statistics show that you are about twice as likely to get killed in a small car as in a bigger car. And about half of small-car fatalities involve only small cars, government data show.

Among small cars there is a considerable range of safety. Smart says its design, safety equipment such as stability control and multiple air bags as well as on-road experience in other countries, puts the car on the good end of the scale. It expects a four-star government crash-test rating. Five stars is best.

In its favor, the Smart car has a funky charm not unlike the original Volkswagen Beetle.

Smart's basics: Small size, light weight allow use of a three-cylinder engine meant to sip gasoline. Only Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids have higher mileage ratings. Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima hybrids come close.

Odd styling and features are intended to make Smart seem hip, not spartan. For instance, dealers will sell different color body panels so your Smart can sport a red door and black fender, should you wish. Or a green door on one side, a white door on the other.

The warranty is two years or 24,000 miles, instead of typical three years/36,000. Helps keep the sticker price lower, Schembri says. Owners can buy extended warranties.

All U.S. Smarts are two-seaters. Four-seaters aren't planned.