For those of you who may care (some do since they make a Brabus Smart!!), just this past week MB announced that it is taking Smart Car back from Penske Distributing (I am sure its also due to dismal sales fromk Penske, just 5,000 cars last year) ), BUT MB says its due to 2016 CAFE stds for their cars. The cars will be sold under Mercedes initiative to modernize their dealerships. The independent dealerships selling Smart (those who are not AFFILIATED WITH MB) WILL CLOSE.

The reason I mention this is that it appears that MB will have issues in the future with the CAFE stds and they are doing all they can to get the avg mileage up on their cars. Thus, the Smart being taken back into the MB fold.

What does this mean for us? I believe it means much smaller displacement engines in the C and perhaps even E and S classes and more hybrids as well. A 5.5 TT in the C Class AMG ? Probably not. Probably a 4.6 TT at about the same rated HP as the current C63. Fuel economy will be driving most of the engineering of the new cars in the next 10 years.

 

nice write up. these types of people are also ruining the high performance industry http://culturechange.org/issue13/autoaddict.html

 

Bring over a C-class diesel and you can throw away the SMART car.

 

Interesting article. Bet the author drives a Pious?? Opps, I mean Prius??

Jason Montgomery is a retired professor of human ecology. This article originally appeared in World Without Cars newsletter

^^^, Yeah, like thats gonna happen?? Quick, get me my caramellattetofuburgersalad.

 

Tried to get a E320 Diesel BlueTec from MB in Chicago and they would not negotiate on that thing at all!!

 

I love my ML320 CDI

 

Sorta like my ML 55, just a whole lot slower

 

I built a smart car dealership for Penske three years ago.
It was easily the cheapest dealership i have ever come across. Penske doesnt like to spend money. I really think Penske backed out of the distribution deal bc of poor sales. I also believe Penske did not represent the MB Brand Name well, also some of it's locations it chose were poor choices that didn't represent the demographic it was trying to cater to.

 

Thats what I thought as well, that it may have not been Mutual, BUT the spinmeisters say its all about CAFE? Who knows, BUT even in Chicagoland, Penske has done a poor job marketing what could be a great "urban car". I rarely, if ever, see them on the road, BUT those who have them love them apparently. They should have just kept them with MB and used them to "upsell" the product later for C, E and S Classes.

 

"MB Takes back Smart Car from Penske
________________________________________
For those of you who may care (some do since they make a Brabus Smart!!), just this past week MB announced that it is taking Smart Car back from Penske Distributing (I am sure its also due to dismal sales fromk Penske, just 5,000 cars last year) ), BUT MB says its due to 2016 CAFE stds for their cars. The cars will be sold under Mercedes initiative to modernize their dealerships. The independent dealerships selling Smart (those who are not AFFILIATED WITH MB) WILL CLOSE.

The reason I mention this is that it appears that MB will have issues in the future with the CAFE stds and they are doing all they can to get the avg mileage up on their cars. Thus, the Smart being taken back into the MB fold.

What does this mean for us? I believe it means much smaller displacement engines in the C and perhaps even E and S classes and more hybrids as well. A 5.5 TT in the C Class AMG ? Probably not. Probably a 4.6 TT at about the same rated HP as the current C63. Fuel economy will be driving most of the engineering of the new cars in the next 10 years."
__________________

I think we’ll continue to see some very good performance oriented vehicles in the future – granted they may no longer be big block v8s-- but high efficiency, high output, smaller displacement engines. People want to have their cake and eat it too – fuel efficiency without sacrificing performance. Manufacturers recognize this!

As for Jason Montgomery’s article –

“The first place that auto addicts hurt us is the pocketbook. Cars are expensive, and consume money that would otherwise be spent on something of more lasting value. Perverse values are revealed when $50,000 automobiles are as common as hungry children.”

It’s called freedom of choice! It’s a hobby for me and an avenue for enjoyment! Jason Montgomery sounds like he would be more comfortable in a Socialist or even Communist political system..

“Auto addicts choose to live away from their work, and their long commute costs plenty. Auto dependence spreads out the city and increases infrastructure cost. Because auto addicts will not use public transportation, they require expensive highways.”

Choose? Sorry, but not all of us have a choice when it comes to living close to our work -- this is especially true in countries, states and provinces with a large geographical area. This type of thinking sounds typical of someone that never leaves the confines of a large European city like London or Paris….

As someone once put it “Driving to me is about the experience. This and so many other experiences make up what it means to be a person...to feel acceleration, to view the contours of the road and respond to them in kind. To listen to the aural tones of an engine as it builds across the rev range is a pleasurable and spectacular thing."

Anyways, enough of my ranting! Maybe its time to get into the last big block V8 AMG ever makes while I still can. W203 Renntech parts anyone?

 

You selling the monolites??

 

I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. We'll wait and see what the facelifted C63 actually looks like in person and see how it performs..

 

I don't think MB is too worried about CAFE, they've got some good technology goin on. Plus, if they are over, they'll just pass on the government surcharge to the buyer. Like the gas guzzler tax.

 

A diesel smart and now we are talking. Back in 06 I consulted for DaimlerChrysler in Detroit and saw a CDI smart parked in the company lot. Some executive was getting 100 mpg.

 

Hmmm I work at a Penske establishment and our facilities are by far the nicest ive seen in the area and there are quite a few Benz dealers around.

 

The problem with this is a big sacrifice in reliability. I'd take a good ole push-rod V8 in a Corvette over a twin turbo V6 any day of the week.

 

The Smart Car never curried favor with (U.S.) high-mileage ‘green’ buyers in spite of its alleged caché.
How many potential MB customers are concerned with CAFE requirements? Pay the penalty and be done with it. Most here willingly pay a gas guzzler fee with each filling station visit.

Hope you didn’t lose your shirt on that gig.

Mr. Penske has proven to be an exceptionally astute businessman. He likes to make money.
I don’t believe better representation or marketing would have helped its fate. The Smart was doomed on these shores from the first boatload shipped to the VPC.
Don’t know the details behind the divestiture, but the 5000 units sold last year -with such a minuscule margin- certainly didn’t contribute significantly to his bottom line.

That’s been my experience as well. He took over our dowdy local (Torrance) Cadillac dealership only to invest several million in its renovation.
It’s resplendent with plenty of travertine…and spotless service bays! Added the Hummer (another ill-fated decision) and GMC lines concurrently.

Can’t even make a beeline toward the parts counter without being asked at least twice, “Have you been helped, sir?”
This while dressed in workaday jeans and a Carhartt shirt.

“The Captain” knows how to run his dealerships.

 

My experience is completely the opposite. Ive been building specifically for car dealers for the last eight years in the southeast. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to spend money...as long as it makes you money back.

The cost of a new car dealership depends on how much inventory the dealer can offload at the end of the month. A new Car Dealership is proposed, I present a cost but there's always a calculator attached with it to help the owner figure out how many cars are sold in a month. If the deal isnt right, the excessive stuff gets cut. ie air conditioned service bays, car wash areas, marble floors...... (Mercedes of Miami has ceramic tile) Well in the SE, Its pretty much a exact science and prob a different mentality from the rest of the country.

Down here cars sell themselves. You dont need a fancy showroom or for that matter a knowledgeable sales person. Take a little peice of land, build a rectangular showroom with one glass wall, attach a precast building with service bay and upper floors with a garage, maybe a car wash. Cram it with Sales People that may have worked at the mall. As long as they speak spanish or creole, South Florida people will buy!

Now most dealerships follow the manufacturer's design prerequisite but its done for bottom dollar and its usually the manufacturer thats forcing them to. If these guys could sell cars from shoe boxes trust me they would. For you South Florida folks maybe one or two that break the norm. The West Palm Beach Ferrari, the Audi Dealerships, and the new North Miami Lexus (largest parking garage in the US)for example. However they are not owned by the Big Box Car Networks.

Perhaps many of you have noticed your local MB dealer going under the knife for a more modern look? For the big market MB has here, Autonation is trying to do it very cheaply and at the bare minimum.

 

^ Touché.

As a matter of fact, the local MB dealership was recently redone. They relocated a block away, into the former Ford joint.
Bought a key from them last week; the uppity personnel there were still as off-putting as ever. Note AN ≠ PAG.

Did the Smart Car fail here because of inadequate dealership facilities?

 

CAFE isn't going away, in fact its getting more stringent. MB has paid out over $200 million since 1983 in fines.

 

I thought that they were already diesels, at least that was what the ones in Taiwan were when they first came out.

 

Many companies make diesels, but they never bring them over here. Typically only one model makes it to the US with a diesel (MB E320, BMW 335d). There is a diesel C class in Europe but they won't bring it over here.

 

Nah
I think their locations were improperly placed.
For example, here the smart car dealership is in a wealthy suburb by the interstate. A lot of traffic goes by. However no one needs a econobox in a comfy suburb. Even more so the dealer was owned by a Hyundai Superstore which was next door.

Ideally dealerships like this should have been placed in urban downtown areas that cater to small businesses or for ppl that live in congested areas that may not own a car. That could have been a roadblock for the Smart Car to come up with the upfront cost to purchase real estate in pricey downtown cores?

 

** That's the problem, some executive and NOT a consumer was driving the thing?? ***

Like Splinter and Moose say, it all comes down to economics and depends on what side of the fence you're on, paying or receiving.

I will give Roger this, he's the consummate businessman...love him or hate him. Someone is taking the pipe on the NOT so Smart car, either MB or Penske. Ever drive a FIT? Its a great alternative. Double the HP, Double the passenger and storage capacity and about the same price.........................

Oh, went to Chicago Auto Show today..........they had a Smart E there (all electric plug-in) for only, are you holding your breath? $45K!! Wow , what a deal???

 

I thought that auto addict article was garbage....Just my opinion...