Would the demand really be there for another small economy car? Especially one tacked below that already conceived small Yaris and Fit? Is the Smart doing that well?

@ pav8581, that is my concern as well. I can’t see this car working that well for the American market for the same reason the Japanese don’t bring their kei cars here. Then again, Mitsubishi has been considering bringing the ‘I’ here, which I would buy in a heartbeat so perhaps there is a market for it. But it’s gotta be extremely small (no pun intended).

Perfect replacement for the aging Crown Victoria in North American Police forces. It’d be worth a ticket to watch Officer Puffnstuff try to extricate himself from one of these.

the Ka is a brilliant car… i would take it over a fortwo any day

I have seen 2008 Smart FourTwo’s with less than 1,000 miles on the odometer on used dealer lots priced at $24,995.00. I asked why a car that cost less than $17,000.00 new would be so much they told me there was an 18 month wait at the dealers for them. Those Smarts are still sitting on the lots for several months at that price. I hope Ford does sell it in the U.S.

I would rather drive a Polaris Razor.

you mean polaris RZR

i hope it comes here two. I’m in dallas and there’s almost a 2 year wait list for a smart here. i got put on it last february and theyr’e telling my my Smart will be here in March 2009. its ridiculous.

Joshy, you’re ahead of me. Mine won’t be here until sometime between July and September of ‘09. I’m actually hoping they release the ForTwo ED by the time my Smart comes in. I’d much rather have the ED drive than any other drivetrain for my use.

As far as bringing the Ka here, why not? I think the teenage and college kids might jump at this vehicle (and also the Fiesta) if the price is right.

Why so much interest in the Smart?? It requires premium fuel;, for God’s sake!!

o it@

They started thinking a bot toooooo late.

I heard on another site that the Fiesta actually gets better MPG than the Ka. Not sure if that’s true, but if it is, then it would make no sense to bring it here.

Beemerdude, it has very little to do with fuel mileage, really. It’s all just subjective opinion. I can’t explain it, but I just like the Smart. Yeah, I hear all the crap about how it’s so small and how it can’t perform, but I just like it. Go figure. It’s just a different kind of car, and the stereo kicks @$$. And, it’s cheap (at least it’s cheap in the U.S.).

But a woman I know used to get 101 mpg in hers when she lived in France. She used a $1.00 octane booster and put in half the bottle at each fill up. She doesn’t think the U.S. version will get 101 mpg, but she believes it could get 60 mpg with the booster. I’d be willing to find out…

OMG DO IT NO IF, ANDS, OR BUTS!!!! This looks a hell of a lot better than a Smart Fortwo.

The smart is listed as 33/41 mpg city/hwy. My friend’s yaris 4 door gets 41mpg city. And the smart takes premium? No thanks. If ford can offer the fiesta with yaris-like mileage here, the ka would be obsolete. Not to mention, the fiesta’s styling > ka’s.

Ford should stop considering start doing… there’s definitely a market for these kinda of cars these days. And with no relief to our energy situation in sight this thing will sell. Heck, that silly ass SMART is selling… why not this? I ride in this thing before I’d ride in a smart.

It’s easy to understand why Ford does the otherwise inexplicable: Ford’s purpose is to be boring, with making money as a distant secondary purpose.

If the Smart is the only car in the segment, then I can see this selling. This has gotta be cheaper than the ForTwo though. For the price of the ForTwo, I’d take the bigger Fit that has four doors and a trunk.