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N0KFQ > TODAY 19.05.12 21:06l 53 Lines 2509 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - May 19
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Sent: 120519/1950Z 22603@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.50
May 19, 2007:
Smart launches U.S. road show to introduce its microcar
Los Angeles, California, is the first stop on a cross-country
road show launched on this day in 2007 by Smart USA to promote
the attractions of its "ForTwo" microcar, which it had scheduled
for release in the United States in 2008.
In the early 1990s, Nicholas Hayek of Swatch, the company famous
for its wide range of colorful and trendy plastic watches, went
to German automaker Mercedes-Benz with his idea for an
"ultra-urban" car. The result of their joint venture was the
diminutive Smart (an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART) ForTwo,
which debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1997 and went on
sale in nine European countries over the next year. Measuring
just over eight feet from bumper to bumper, the original ForTwo
was marketed as a safe, fuel-efficient car that could be
maneuvered easily through narrow, crowded city streets. Despite
its popularity among urban Europeans, Smart posted significant
losses, and Swatch soon pulled out of the joint venture.
Undaunted, Mercedes maker DaimlerChrysler (now Daimler AG)
launched the Smart ForTwo in Canada in 2004 as an initial foray
into the North American market. In June 2006, DaimlerChrysler
chairman Dieter Zetsche announced that the Smart would make its
U.S. debut in early 2008. Between 2003 and 2006, as reported by
the German newspaper Handelsblatt, DaimlerChrysler took a loss of
some 3.9 billion euros (around $5.2 billion) on the Smart brand,
and the company looked to the U.S. market as a way to bring the
brand into profitability.
The cross-country road show that began in May 2007 allowed
consumers in 50 cities nationwide to test-drive the ForTwo. On
each stop on the tour, a large truck served as a mobile exhibit
dedicated to the microcar, complete with interactive displays and
virtual demonstrations. As Dave Schembri, president of Smart USA,
put it: "The Smart ForTwo is all about urban independence and
freeing people from the constraints of city driving." Under
normal driving conditions, the ForTwo was designed to achieve 40
plus miles per gallon. The show was presumably a success: By
September 2007, according to an article in MarketWatch, Smart USA
said it had already received more than 30,000 registrations from
potential buyers. The FortTwo went on sale in the United States
in January 2008, at prices ranging from around $12,000 to around
$21,000.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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