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smart Considering SUV Model, but Not a New roadster

smart got everybody's attention yesterday night at the launch of the new fortwo and forfour. They are both really interesting new cars and naturally got people dreaming of other funky, smart-badged models that might debut in the future.
smart roadster 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
The first stop: smart roadster. Light and funky-looking, the roadster is admired by many. And yet smart never really managed to sell that many and they're unwilling to try again.

smart CEO Annette Winkler recently spoke to the British publication What Car? and explained why the roadster will not get a revisit. According to her “the Roadster isn’t a profitable business case. […] Everybody is keen on the car, but nobody wants to pay the bill”.

Produced between 2003 and 2006, the roadster had two body styles and sold about 43,000 units. Most came with 698cc 3-cylinder Suprex engines in the rear, mated to a much-criticized 6-speed semi-automatic transmission. Brabus versions had a respectable 100 horsepower, but the roadster everybody seems to remember is the V6 Bi-Turbo prototype, which had two 3-cylinder units merged together into a powerful but compact 1.4-liter with 218 PS.

Many automakers have said the market for roadsters is shrinking these days. We thing this could be because people now choose SUVs as lifestyle vehicles. Not surprisingly, smart is considering one as well, about the size of a Nissan Juke.

Of course, that will take a lot of work and corporate planning. The RWD platform of the new smart will take a lot of stretching to reach the size of even the smallest crossover. But another option for Daimler's baby brand would be to simply ask Renault for their Captur.

The CEO declined to comment on any of these possibilities, but said the smart's main focus right now is to “maximize potential of the ForTwo and ForFour”. Actually, if a crossover of roadster car is what you're looking for, smart could probably make those out of the existing two models. If memory serves, they had a little speedster called the Crossblade a few years back, which was essentially a fortwo with no doors, windshield or roof.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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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.
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