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DaimlerChrysler gears up for tiny car
DaimlerChrysler sees a "potential" for its quirky and tiny Smart cars in the United States.
DaimlerChrysler said on Sunday that it sees a "potential" for its quirky and tiny Smart cars in the United States, as it made its presentation of the vehicle at the North American International Autoshow in Detroi.
"The Smart brand is presenting itself from today on and for the first time to the American public," the German-US company said in a statement.
"This appearance on the NAIAS is the company's next step to introduce Smart in the USA, the largest automotive market in the world."
The company said the US may take a cue from Canada, which has been selling the Smart car and a variant known as the Smart "Fortwo."
"Following the very successful start in Canada, we see potential for smart in the US, too", said Eckhard Cordes, board member of DaimlerChrysler from the Mercedes Car Group.
"Smart has become a strong and important brand of the Mercedes Car Group", Cordes added.
The statement said Smart has already begun to build up a service and sales network for the brand in the US in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz USA.
Originally developed as a joint venture between the Swiss watch company Swatch and Mercedes-Benz, the brand is now a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler and part of the Mercedes car group, but has been losing money.
DaimlerChrysler's finance chief Manfred Gentz caused a stir last October when he said the car maker was considering all options with regard to the 2.50 metre (7.5 foot) long Smart, which has never made a profit since its launch in 1998 and whose losses hurt group-wide earnings in the third quarter.
"We wanted (Smart) to be at breakeven this year. As we're faced with significantly higher losses this year ... the question is what we're going to do with Smart. There's no decision (yet). It's still under investigation," Gentz had said.
Some 700,000 Smart cars have been assembled in The French town of Hambach's "Smartville" unit which employs some 2,200 workers.
The trendy urban minicars have been sold in 35 countries.
