Reports: DaimlerChrysler decides to bring Smart to U.S.

The Wall Street Journal, Germany's Der Spiegel, and the Detroit News are all independently reporting that DaimlerChrysler later this week will announce plans to begin selling the Smart car in the United States in 2007. The automaker is expected to announce the plan tomorrow (Tuesday). Over the past few months, rumors indicated DCX was increasingly leaning toward bringing the brand to America.





All three reports indicated the car would come to the United States in 2007. DaimlerChrysler is widely expected to roll out the next-generation Smart ForTwo in April 2007, which would coincide with the U.S. debut.

The next Smart car will get an updated exterior as well as improved fuel economy and performance. One recent report by Italy's La Repubblica newspaper even suggests the car will be foot longer than its predecessor, and seat three people instead of just two.

Recently, smart discontinued its ForFour model, which has four doors and seated four passengers. Smart has said it wants to focus on a single model going forward. A three-seater two-door could be the necessarily compromise between the ForTwo and the ForFour.

In April, a car imported called ZAP began bringing the Smart ForTwo in limited numbers to U.S. customers. DaimlerChrysler has officially sold Smart cars in Canada for the past few years.