Photo: Daimler AG/ Image Edited by autoevolution
As we were telling you a few weeks ago, the all-new generations of the smart fortwo and its bigger brother, the forfour, will be unveiled this July in Berlin, with the actual sales launch to take place in the Fall, as the 2014 edition of the Paris Motor Show.
While the rumor surrounding smart also developing a larger model to battle the Audi A1 and certain versions of BMW's MINI may or may not come into fruition in the nearby future, Daimler is certainly optimistic about the commercial success of the new forfour and its smaller sibling.
Speaking with Automotive News Europe, Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche contemplated on the future increased success of the smart brand, which will be spearheaded by the two all-new models.
“We have a feasible business case with our new generation.” said Zetsche. “The new forfour is an extended fortwo and has all the characteristics of the new fortwo. These include a wider interior relative to the length of the car, a rear-mounted engine and several very smart ideas of benefit to customers. So the new vehicle has all the genes of a smart.” he continued.
The Daimler boss said that he believes the new forfour will have a different fate than the first generation, which even himself admitted that it lacked the true smart genes found in the fortwo. “Apart for some styling cues, the two vehicles had nothing in common.” Zetsche said.
Sold for just under three years between 2003 and 2006, the first generation of the smart forfour was actually a re-bodied Mitsubishi Colt, with which it was manufactured in the Netherlands. The new model will share about 70 percent of its components with the new Renault Twingo, and both will be manufactured in Slovenia.
Speaking with Automotive News Europe, Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche contemplated on the future increased success of the smart brand, which will be spearheaded by the two all-new models.
“We have a feasible business case with our new generation.” said Zetsche. “The new forfour is an extended fortwo and has all the characteristics of the new fortwo. These include a wider interior relative to the length of the car, a rear-mounted engine and several very smart ideas of benefit to customers. So the new vehicle has all the genes of a smart.” he continued.
The Daimler boss said that he believes the new forfour will have a different fate than the first generation, which even himself admitted that it lacked the true smart genes found in the fortwo. “Apart for some styling cues, the two vehicles had nothing in common.” Zetsche said.
Sold for just under three years between 2003 and 2006, the first generation of the smart forfour was actually a re-bodied Mitsubishi Colt, with which it was manufactured in the Netherlands. The new model will share about 70 percent of its components with the new Renault Twingo, and both will be manufactured in Slovenia.
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