A Marketing Blunder or an Opportunity?

[RonDwyer]

In my 45 years of watching the auto industry I am amazed at how a perfect opportunity to introduce a new product to strong pent-up demand is being delayed. To even begin to believe that insufficient demand exists in the North American Market is incredulous. This little car would sell enough to make the whole venture worthwhile. Based on what I have seen of the SMART, it should be able to be assembled delivered and sold for far less than a Dodge Neon. Maybe therein lies the opportunity that freaks out the MBZ dealer network of having the Eco crowd beat a path to their doors: Sell it as a Dodge. From a marketing standpoint, the whole idea is to sell cars, right? Brother Zetsche at the helm should have no trouble convincing the troops to figure out how to get it into either the DCX or MBZ showrooms. I would even run the program for them.

My 2 cents

[Bela]

You say that it should sell for less than a Neon (under $15K?). I say not very likely.... I don't have much basis for estimates, but I think it likely that it will exceed $20K. I don't think Daimler Chrysler is interested in being an economy competitor, so they will come in high and considering the startup costs of dealerships, service facilities, training, inventory, marketing, and more, they have a lot of infrastructure cost to cover. If they make the car interesting and technically advanced, e.g., diesel hybrid, they could probably get premium prices, but probably not achieve really high volume. Don't know what a Penske deal would look like, but he'll certainly want to make it worth his while.

Bela

[Eddy]

http://www.mbcanada.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13710

[joelj]

20K for a SMART? That seems quite a lot of money for such a small car. I'd save just a bit more and get a c class instead. I though the SMART cars will be selling for under 12K Actually more like 8K. hahah I must have been dreaming :)

cheers group

joel-j

[Eddy]

Unfortunately a really load up model can easily be in the upwards of $30K Canadian. Hwever, they start at $16K Canadian.

[joelj]

Wow 30K canadian. That's quite a lot of coins.

I read in one of the car magazines that one problem the SMART owners are experiencing comes from vandals that tip the car on its side (since they are so light) I can't imagine the Smart cars on the US freeways along side the big trucks plying the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. That car might get blown away. Maybe for city driving it would be great but then again at 20k USD there are many other choices out there.

Cheers

Joel

[Eddy]

Ironically, the fortwo was origianally called "City Car" in Europe; which is what is was designed for. However, it is not much problem to drive within reason on the highway. My Brabus version does 160kph and passes the big semi's. But don't expect to be a SL55.

Well, $30K is pretty luxurious in smart standard. Convertible, leather, heated seats, stereo and all. With nomal reasoning of it's cuteness and conservation. $20K will work just fine.