Car brand Smart seems saved, thanks to the Chinese

Car The car brand Smart seems to come from destruction saved, thanks to a joint-venture with the Chinese Geely. Daimler, the parent company of Smart and Mercedes-Benz, in China, a new Smart-build the factory where from 2022 only electric Smarts are produced. That will be from China and around the world are sold.

The cars produced in China will bear the cost for the car manufacturer quite can print. At this time, Smart is still a factory in Vernon, a town in the border region between Germany and France. “This is obviously their last real opportunity,” says Jürgen Pieper, analyst of Bankhaus Metzler, against the news agency Bloomberg. “It is understood that the Daimler ag the brand is not want to let go after all these years, so much money is invested.” Bankhaus Metzler estimates that the losses in the meantime risen to more than 4 billion euros.

far ahead

The wild the past few years, but it is not possible to the small car's success, while right now the heyday for a car as Smart seem to break. Governments force today, consumers, businesses and manufacturers for in-car ride that is as clean and efficient as possible. The little Smarts are. Actually, it was the brand at its debut in 1998, his time far ahead. Long before the discussions losbarstten on solutions for the mobility problems in big cities, the Smart is unique as a double car with a minimum trunk. He took in a city even less parking in, because he straight in a box parked could be. Originally, he was even referred to across on a railway wagon placed, so that he on certain routes in the environment in no way would tax.

Swatch watches

It were a car manufacturer Daimler and the Swiss watchmaker Nicolas Hayek, who in the 90s of the previous century initiated Smart. Hayek had at the time created a sensation with its trendy Swatch watches and found a cool car in the same spirit, a logical next step. In 1998 was the first model presented. The cooperation between Daimler and Hayek, however, was of short duration. And in spite of that research, still, demonstrate that there is in a car, on average, not more than one or two people sitting, turned out to be the formula of a strict double car not long lasting. There was a Smart Forfour: a family car with room for four persons in a few years, also in Dutch Limburg at NedCar is produced.

By our neighbors were last year 1.685 Smarts sold. This had made the brand a market share of only 0,37%. There is for Daimler's all the more reason to quickly put an end to the losses at Smart. Daimler AG saw last year's profit by 30 percent, despite a sales at Mercedes-Benz.