Smart launches new ForTwo and ForFour with their success critical for brand's future

Daimler has officially launched its Smart ForTwo and ForFour models in a ceremony presented by Smart brand division head Annette Winkler and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche at Berlin's Tempodrom centre. According to a company statement, both the ForTwo and ForFour will be powered by three separate versions of the company's three-cylinder gasoline (petrol) powertrain with outputs of 60bhp, 71bhp and 90bhp respectively, with the latter variant turbocharged. The-top-of-the-range turbo unit has a maximum torque rating of 135 Nm at 2,500 rpm. These powertrains mated to either a five-speed manual transmission or the company's "twinamic" automatic dual clutch transmission, with all variants featuring stop-start technology. Commenting on the design co-operation between Daimler and Renault on the project Jörg Prigl, head of the product group Compact Cars at Mercedes-Benz said, "In the planning phase we were clear that we wanted to retain the rear engine for the new smart, so as to continue to exploit the vehicles' strengths to the full in the city. On this basis, we then developed the new fortwo and forfour together with our partner, Renault." Smart has focused on improving the crash

protection of the ForTwo and ForFour while still maintaining the very small footprint of the models and the traditional 2.69-m length of the vehicle. The new car also maintains the traditional Smart tridion safety cell and as part of the pre-launch marketing of the car Daimler has shown a film of the new ForTwo in a crash test with an S-Class in which the former performed well. The new models are closely related in terms of their styling and feature a more bluff-fronted and defined bonnet as well as an all-new grille design. Talking about the design philosophy behind the two models Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Daimler AG said, "The typical smart attributes are being carried into a new era: the typical silhouette with the ultra-short overhangs, the clear lines, forms and surfaces, the tridion cell and the updated, likeable smart face."

In terms of chassis engineering, more emphasis has been placed on high-speed stability, especially on motorways and autobahns, as well as on improving ride comfort. Additional equipment is also on offer to improve motorway performance. These include Crosswind Assist (standard), forward collision warning (option) and Lane Keeping Assist (option). A new front axle design has adopted elements of the previous Mercedes-Benz C-Class, combined with an optimised De Dion rear axle and substantially increased spring travel all round, and tyres with higher side walls, with lessons having been learnt from the first two generations of the ForTwo in terms of optimising chassis set-up.

The new car offers three different trim levels; passion, prime and proxy. The entry-level passion includes LED daytime driving lights, central locking with radio remote control, visual locking-verification signal and immobiliser and cruise control. The multimedia system the car comes with comprehensive smartphone integration, navigation and touchscreen operation, offering the kind of functionality and entertainment options that many potential Smart buyers will have come to expect. Smart said that the pricing of the new model will match exactly the current car on a like-for-like basis in terms of trim level and engine specification while the ForFour will cost EUR600 more for the equivalent variant.

Outlook and implications

The new generation of Smarts will launch in Europe in November, so will come too late to have much impact on the brand's sales for this year. IHS Automotive is forecasting quite a dramatic fall in sales in 2014, as it will be the last year that the second-generation ForTwo is on sale, with the brand's global numbers falling nearly 14% y/y to 86,000 units. The launch of the new ForTwo and ForFour will help these figures climb to 186,000 units next year.

By sharing the R&D process with Renault on the Project Edison architecture, to give the platform its internal codename, Daimler and Renault have achieved significant cost savings on the development programme, and by basing three separate vehicles on the platform the two companies can leverage extra buying power for buying components and systems modules such as air-conditioning. This will substantially improve the overall cost base of the

project, with the economic rationale being boosted by the fact that Smart is set to sell more than twice the number of vehicles that it currently does by 2016. However, there are still significant question marks over the Smart project. The brand has been widely regarded within industry circles as a loss-maker for Daimler, even though its parent has historically not split out separate financial figures for the brand. Smart's overall performance would benefit if it could gain some real traction in the US market, but its performance there has been particularly lamentable. After the initial rush of interest in the brand, with 25,000 units sold in 2008, sales have fallen alarmingly to as low as 5,000 units in 2011 although this figure recovered to 10,000 units in 2012 and have remained relatively stable since. However, Smart has made reasonably strong inroads into China, which is now the brand's third largest market after Germany and Italy.

That said, Smart remains a Europe-focused brand, and in a unstable European market where younger people (the demographic the Smart brand is targeted at) are generally buying fewer cars, and which alternative urban mobility transport solutions are being sought, this may be bad news for the brand. The other slight negative about the new ForTwo and ForFour is potentially the styling of the models. Subjectively at least, the more slab-fronted view of the current cars is less successful than the first two generations. In a sector in which characterful and appealing styling is significantly influential in terms of buying decisions, this may prove a negative for the new ForTwo and ForFour; although the market will be the ultimate arbiter of the design success of the of the new models. Production of the ForTwo will continue at the brand's main plant in Hambach in France, while production of the ForFour will take place alongside the Twingo at Renault's plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, with Smart announcing details of the third-generation EV at a later date.