The Smart's White Knight: A Five-Door Nissan for the U.S. Market
The ailing Smart brand needs a white knight, and U.S. distributor Roger Penske, one of the smartest guys in the car business, sees it arriving in the form of a Nissan hatchback. Smart's U.S. arm, which has experienced plunging sales, and Nissan announced Wednesday that American Smart dealers will start selling a small (B-segment), gas-powered Nissan sedan at the end of 2011 in an effort to broaden the product line. Most importantly, it will have five doors, and five seats, too. And down the line it could also be electric.
I think that's, ahem, a smart idea, and Smart USA has to do something to get the customers back on the showroom floor. The brand sold like gangbusters at first, with an average of 1,916 sales in each of the first 18 months on the market. But Smart sales have plunged precipitously in the U.S., down 70 percent in the first half of 2010. In July, American Smart dealers sold only 560 cars, as compared to 934 in the same month last year. In January, a low point, only 278 were sold.
Smart launched the "Smart Expression" program to allow buyers to personalize their cars with custom panels and unique graphics, but that hasn't overcome the basic problem: You can have a Smart anyway you want it, as long as it has two seats. Smart USA President Jill Lajdziak has said that the way forward lay in a laser-like focus on smart marketing, but there's only so much you can do without higher gas prices.
The company is planning a facelift that could generate some interest, and there's also the very credible electric drive Smart on the way, with deployment starting this month. I tested the electric drive Smart in New York, and in many ways it's an improvement over the gas version, with better acceleration off the line and ultra-quiet operation. But only 1,500 cars are initially being built for the world market, so its ability to help with sales is limited.
The proposed Nissan/Smart is snazzy looking, if the sketch is to be believed. But what will make it a credible collaboration, rather than a rebadged Nissan? Lajdziak says the car will expand the lineup with five-seat capacity "while maintaining the core principles of efficiency and conservation." Sure, it will be fuel-efficient, but there are a lot of Nissans out there that get good mileage. Distinctive styling is really important, as will be exclusivity -- they can't sell it in Nissan dealers, too.
According to Rick Bourgoise, a Smart USA spokesman, in an email, "A segment of smart-minded consumers has been asking for a vehicle with increased space to accommodate their needs, and we are thrilled to deliver on that."
The parties aren't issuing many details about the program, and the memorandum of understanding setting up the deal is non-binding, so it could fall apart. But the idea is a really good one. Smart has a pint-sized product that entranced a certain segment of the audience, but they've got their cars by now. And the Smart has been around for a long time -- it grew out of a deal between Daimler-Benz and the Swiss watchmaker Swatch in 1993. The current model, still very close style-wise to the original car, appeared in 2006.
Both Daimler (which has a battery partnership with Tesla) and Nissan (which is launching the Leaf) could easily produce an electric version of the new car. Tesla would definitely like to get its hands on one. So I wouldn't be surprised if the new car plugs in. But with the companies wanting to give the Leaf and e-drive Smart smooth sailing, it might be a year or more before the first inklings of that one appear.
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Photo: Smart USA