Dr. Z, tell those whiney girlie man dealers to shut the fark up. Mercedes dealers are some of the most pompous a-holes I have ever dealt with.

I like the Smart. Especially with a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 motor stuffed in the back of it.

Google that one, the video is awesome.

They have exclusive Smart dealers in Europe, why not do boutique stores like Vespa’s? Problem solved.

any self respecting motorist would drive a Vespa instead.

“Callahan told Auto News dealers are worried Smart will hurt the Mercedes-Benz image.” Mercedes needs to concentrate on their own image when it comes to reliaility.

why would they sell these in mercedes dealerships? mercedes and chrysler are sharing to much(chasis, engine design, suspension) as it is and that will hurt mercedes more than anything, not a totaly different brand that shares nothing

that is one badass video #1 and it probably still gets 50mpg!

Having test-driven a Smart fortwo at a Mercedes dealership here in Ottawa (Canada), I don’t think those dealers have too much to worry about.

The American dealers make it sound like Smart buyers will stumble drunk and half-naked into the dealerships, and will scare off all the people buying their E-Classes in their finest evening wear.

The Smart section of a Canadian Mercedes dealership is tasteful and doesn’t take away from the luxury quality of the dealership. The only awkwardness will probably be on the part of younger Smart buyers, who won’t feel like they fit in amidst a sea of middle-aged accountants and managers.

MINI sales did not hurt BMW at all. In fact I thinkt hey helped BMW. MINI owners were able to enjoy the perks of BMW ownership and service at a cheaper price. Some of those MINI owners will buy a BMW of some type later on.

I said it before and I’ll say it again. I’ll take the old boattail Riviera behing the Smart instead.

I think only bringing the Smart ForTwo is the big mistake here. Like I said in an earlier comment, people usually need space for four in a practical car (so the ForFour is a better option), and the Roadster which also sits two is much more of a desirable car and gets amazing mileage and is very fun to drive. Because it only sits two, its less practical but the convertible edge to it makes it a fun little sporty car. Even crazy old Jeremy Clarkson, champion of the big beefy sports cars such as Aston Martin loved the Smart Roadster.

*Disclaimer: I am an Aston and all around supercar fan, so those of you about to call me some wacko tree hugging, car unenthusiast, relax.

Here’s the vid of the Smart with the Suzuki GSXR engine in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtDTG18MxIs

Bloody awesome!!!

Smart versus a ferrari 430
Check out the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vExpEl0_5-Y

and the merger with Chrysler didn’t hurt Mercedes-Benz’s image??

Could we have a little less fear-mongering here, please?

THE SMART IS SAFE. The safety cell keeps the cabin intact better than most larger compact cars do. At least in Canada, it also has front and side-impact airbags standard. And let’s not forget that it excels at the most important aspect of surviving a crash: not getting into one in the first place. It’s small and relatively nimble (ESP is also standard in Canada).

So afraid of one getting hit by a:
Hummer,
Excursion,
Escalade,
Yukon
Any boat vehicle made in last 5 years.

The car has no crumple zone. The energy of an impact is going into the saftey cel 100%. Nimbleness won’t save you when your rear ended.

Personally, if I were about to spend 100K+ on a S-class I don’t want to be on the same lot with someone buying a 15K or less car. Your buying prestige with a Merc. It would suck to have the dealership remove the veil of prestige from the car. Once you do that all you have left is just a car.

why dont they just rebadge the smart as a MB A-class?

VDub:

Because there already is an A-Class. It’s just not sold in North America.

Why can’t automakers make something fuel efficient and good looking? Why the SMART roadster/coupe was sold to a random Chinese manufacturer- we will never know.

The Smart ForFour is discontinued, but it was not really a Smart anyway, but a re-badged Mitsubishi. The Roadster has been sold to another company. As far as Smart and Mercedes working together, it works fine here in Canada. I have a Smart, and the Mercedes dealer has a separate showroom for the Smart customers. I also have a MINI, and that has worked well for BMW, as their dealers also have separate MINI showrooms. As British_Rover says, I expect many MINI buyers will move up to a BMW if they feel the need for a larger car. My BMW dealer is first class, and I would not hgesitate to buy a BMW from him.

I guess they don’t think it’s particularly smart.

[...] source: leftlanenews. [...]

To even infer that this car approaches the safety of any normal automobile is felonious at best. Most of us saw the crash test with the S-Class. What a joke. So what if there was no cabin intrusion, that thing fricken bounced around like a golf ball hitting concrete. Secondary and subsequent impacts with other traffic ande roadside objects will kill the occupants for sure.
I don’t think the comparison of Mini/BMW is a good one. While the mini is still a very small car it does not approach the smurf like proportions of this thing. BMW dealers here in the states had to build dedicated areas and in many cases seperate showrooms for the Mini thus minimizing the comingling of BMW and the ‘lowly’ Mini buyer.

Wonderful. Before any of us get to choose for OURSELVES, the dealer lobby weighs in to assure top management that no one wants to buy these vehicles.

I LOVE this car does it come with a cool color matching body bag and toe tag set in the glove box. Forget being hit by a car or truck you’ll be on a slab just from nailing a tree rat. I always wanted a adult sized Power Wheel AWESOME! lol

I was just wondering if that is a 1971-74 buick riviera behind the smart car in the picture

There is WAY more to the MB dealer objection than just the car. Daimler Chrysler essentially sold the distribution rights to a major dealer group without any discussion with the dealer body. If you are a dealer in a market that has a dealership owned by UAG, you stand zero chance of obtaining the franchise rights for your area. I would be a little upset if a Smart store opened up across the street from my MB store, and there was nothing I could do about it!!

I agree with the first post
mercedes in the us is trying to be über elite, and it’s quite annoying. Mini and bmw are working together nicely. Mercedes needs to get a better image for itself in the united states and except it.