According to Autocar, citing a smart insider, the vehicle is already on the drawing table and Is only one of several new smart models meant to revive the ailing brand and secure Daimler's place in the small city car segment.
“A new Roadster is one being discussed,” the insider told the source. “The Renault merger could lead to several Smart spin-offs; Renault has small car expertise that we can benefit from.”
When the alliance between the three carmakers was announced back in April, Daimler also previewed some of the product plans it has under the new agreement. At the time, it was made public the fact that the future generation smart four-seater and Renault Twingo, including their electric versions, will be built on a joint architecture.
Released in 2003, the Roadster smart managed to reach its sales target, yet its production was affected by warranty claims – the cars leaked and repair costs averaged EUR3,000/vehicle. Two years and 43,091 Roadsters later, Daimler was forced to halt the production.
As the carmaker's vehicle roll-out plan stated earlier this month, the new smart fortwo will be released in 2012. The new smart vehicles are meant to mark the revival of one of Daimler's slowest selling models. So badly needed after years of negative sales figures, the smart, be it fortwo or Roadster, will be accompanied by no less than 20 new Mercedes models to be released by 2014.
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