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smart EQ “cross” Mini SUV Has Slim Chances of Helping the Brand’s Sales Figures

smart wanted to roll out an SUV in the 2000s but the project was canceled in 2005. A decade later, the urban-centric crossover resurfaced but the German brand controlled by Daimler AG has yet to deliver.
smart EQ “cross” Mini SUV rendering 18 photos
Photo: Kleber Silva on Behance
smart EQ “cross” Mini SUV renderingsmart EQ “cross” Mini SUV rendering2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept2012 smart forstars concept
Unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, the forstars concept is the closest thing to the long-anticipated model we ever got. An all-electric coupe with higher ground clearance than the fortwo and massive wheels, the rear-driven show car could hit 80 mph (130 kph) with 80 horsepower (82 PS).

Annette Winkler, then the head of the company, famously said “the smart is Europe's most inexpensive series-produced electric car” even though that’s not the case any longer. Fast-forward to 2020 and the EQ fortwo starts at 21,940 euros before options while Renault offers the Zoe Life R110 Z.E. 40 at 21,900 euros plus 74 euros per month for the battery pack’s lease.

smart’s popularity has been decreasing for many years now as demand for crossovers and SUVs kept rising in the Old Continent. The brand has also left the U.S. over dwindling sales, but who could blame them? Only 680 units were sold in this part of the world in 2019, down from 24,622 in 2008 and 1,276 in 2018. This downfall can also be attributed to the pricing.

At $23,900 right off the bat, it’s insane to spend this kind of money on a European city dweller that feels so out of place on U.S. public roads. This gets us back to the mini SUV that smart has been working on for so long, imagined by pixel artist Kleber Silva with French underpinnings.

Inspired by the Renault City K-ZE and the Dacia Spring EV concept, this digital interpretation of the “smart EQ cross” fails to pique the interest of mini SUV customers. It looks too similar to the Chinese model and the Romanian budget brand’s electric vehicle, and frankly speaking, there are better alternatives in this segment and at this price point.

Remember the sticker price of the EQ fortwo from a few paragraphs before? Add approximately five grand to it, then compare it to the production version of the Dacia Spring EV concept.

Whichever way you look at it, smart dug itself in a hole that it can’t climb out of. Without proper rethinking of the brand’s philosophy, smart may be consigned to the history books in a few years’ time.

After nearly a year of negotiations, parent company Daimler AG sold 50 percent of smart to Geely. The joint venture’s purpose is to build cars in China with Geely in charge of engineering and Mercedes leading the design.

On that note, next-generation vehicles will start rolling out in 2022 according to Daimler AG. There's no mistaking that one of them is the yet-to-be-named mini SUV, and smart intends to sell these cars outside of China as well.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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