Last week, Daimler revealed two brand new vehicles at an event in Berlin. The new fortwo and forfour were developed together with their partners at Renault on a common rear-engined, rear wheel drive architecture. They stand a good chance of changing the way Europeans navigate their crowded cities and towns in the next few years, so we decided to take a closer look.
After their German debut event, smart has sent two pre-production prototypes to the photo studio of British magazine What Car? for a short review. In short, they say the cabin is a big improvement over the predecessors and that the width has increased, giving you more elbow room.
Crucially, the powertrain offered take a no-nonsense approach to motoring, with either a 5-speed manual or a new dual-clutch being offered. Engine choices are limited to two 3-cylinder units, either a 71 hp one with no turbo or a 90 hp borrowed from the Clio, offered on higher spec cars. Crucially, smart says prices will not be increased over the previous generation.
Both models will deliver emissions of under 100 grams of CO2 per kilometer and combined fuel consumption in the region of 4.2 l/100km, so they should be cheap to run and tax. Greenpeace activist will certainly not throw green paint over your smart like they do with large SUVs.
Because some people might be put of by the lack of space, smart also launched a 5-door version based on the same platform. This is a much more conventional car, though smaller than the original fortwo, which was based on a Mitsubishi Colt. It's about the same size as the new Renault Twingo and comes with a decent boot and easy access to the rear seats. While the fortwo has its own little niche, big brother will compete against Volkswagen's popular Up!, the new Peugeot 108, Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo. As such, we expect sales to be limited to around 100,000 units per year in Europe.
Looks are, of course, very subjective, but both models are more neutral/masculine than before and have premium details like LED daytime running lights and a floating center console. The rear light cluster is nice and everything looks well screwed together.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News