On July 2, 1998, a vehicle with an entirely new concept first rolled off the assembly line: the smart fortwo. On that date an extraordinary success story commenced in Hambach, France. Until now, the compact two-seater has become the vehicle of choice of more than 900,000 customers in 37 countries. The smart fortwo soon got cult status and is the only automobile which is still in production to be displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
The smart fortwo will also be available to Chinese customers from mid 2009. This was announced by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, at the Auto China Beijing 2008 (22 - 28 April 2008). This means that smart is now set to open up another major automobile market, following the successful launch in the USA. Daimler AG expects additional sales potential for the brand in China as the small car is practically tailor-made for the increasing number of small car customers on the Chinese market.
The highly regarded "Motor Presse Club" has awarded the author prize 2008 to the book "sideways. a smart art project" which was recently presented. The distinguished jury of the "MPC car book prize" awards this special prize every year for outstanding literary achievement in the field of car books.
The smart fortwo continues its string of successes. Since the end of March 2007, the new model of the innovative two-seater has been purchased by a total of 100,000 customers, representing a sales increase of more than 80 percent. Yesterday afternoon, Ulrich Kowalewski, director of the Mercedes-Benz Center Munich handed over the 100,000th second-generation smart fortwo to a 36-year-old customer in the recently re-opened smart Center Munich.
The smart fortwo’s savvy concept is designed for the city. Mercedes-Benz Accessories GmbH is now offering a new guide for the nimble two-seater that enables smart fortwo drivers to find their way through the urban maze of an unfamiliar city. The "portable smart navigation system II" is as extraordinary as the smart principle itself: with its optimum integration into the car, clear voice output and high-resolution TFT colour monitor, it makes mobile navigation a joy. With its state-of-the-art design it not only boasts shameless good looks, but also fits perfectly into the interior of the smart fortwo.