By Drew Johnson
Monday, Oct 3rd, 2011 @ 9:50 am
 
Although it hasn't been a smash success here in the United States, Smart's second-generation Fortwo city car has just crossed a major milestone, selling its 500,000th example worldwide.

Smart's second-generation Fortwo launched a little over four years ago, with the city car still proving popular around the world. So far this year 69,073 units of the Fortwo have been sold, representing a 6.6 percent improvement over the same period last year.

"Our Smart has long since evolved into an icon, which is indispensable in the cities of the world," Dr. Annette Winkler, head of Smart, said of the achievement.

Smart is expecting continued growth in the coming years thanks to two new products. Smart will launch an electric versions of its Fortwo city car during the spring of 2012 with an electric ebike to follow sometime during the second quarter of 2012.