Genuine SMART parts - Original SMART spare parts for cars & SUV

Smart - Visionary ideas for the city

Smart Automobile, a branch of Daimler AG, is the creation of Nicolas Hayek, CEO of watch and jewelry maker SMH in the 1980s till his death in 2010. Hayek began to design a small car around the same personalized features and manufacturing concepts that had proven successful in revitalizing Swatch watches. A design was made for a two seat hybrid drivetrain called the “Swatchmobile”.

Seeking collaboration instead of direct competition, Hayek sought partnerships with several different automakers. Volkswagen was the first partner in 1991 but later backed out in favor of their own three-liter car called the Lupo 3l. Finally, an agreement was reached with the German automobile manufacturer Daimler AG in 1994. The name of the new automobile was changed to “Smart”. The final vehicle used a conventional gasoline engine, not the hybrid drivetrain of the original design. Soon after the microcar’s release in 1998, Daimler bought out SMH’s remaining shares. Presently Smart is branded by the Mercedes-Benz Cars division of Daimler AG. The Fortwo is the only model. It is available as a pure coupe, passion coupe, passion cabriolet, and electric drive.

The car successfully released in nine European countries but it would be almost a decade before the official distribution in the United States. Critics attribute the vehicles lackluster performance in the American market to numerous problems. A failure to meet consumer needs in the American market and safety concerns have plagued the diminutive automobile. Forbes magazine asked the question in a July 2006 article, “Is Smart a Dumb Idea”. The April 2008 issue of Men’s Vogue mused “ …in a nation where your supersized car is your castle, is the Smart too mini for a man?”

Safety is also a consideration. The Fortwo has done well in European crash testing. The car has a reinforced high-strength steel tridion safety cell designed much like a race car roll cage. A collapsible steering column and numerous airbags are also standard features. An “Electronic Stability Program” and “Anti-Lock” braking provide for a great deal of control. Despite some high marks for safety, the microcar does not do well in accidents with larger vehicles. Testing of a car-to-car crash at 40 mph was done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in 2009. After striking a C class Mercedes, the Smart Fortwo went airborne, turned 450 degrees, and flew back several feet. The crash test dummy received numerous injuries from head to feet. In fairness few of the minicars and microcars tested against larger vehicles did well. This failure is not so much a problem of design as the reality of the laws of physics. Small vehicles will always receive greater damage in a crash with a larger vehicle.

Smart Automobile is attempting to overcome many of these problems. The vehicle is gaining in popularity in certain markets. As American cities become more congested and crowded, perhaps a market can be found for the Fortwo to match its success in Europe.

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