Yeah, it gets 40 miles per gallon, and with gas at $3 a gallon that’s pretty sweet, but, no, I’m not even considering a Smart Car:
Subcompact cars made up 2.4 percent of the U.S. market in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 1.7 percent a year ago, according to the Power Information Network, a division of J.D. Power and Associates.
Smart is now contacting the 30,000 people who have plunked down $99 to reserve the two-seater, a group that includes college students and Baby Boomers, RV owners and multimillionaires, Schembri said. California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and New York are among the top states for reservations.
“It’s a car that has all the rational reasons to buy it, it has all the social responsibility reasons to buy it, and in addition, you get an emotional kick with this car,” he said. “When you go up to any traffic light or stop at any store, you get reaffirmed that you made a great purchase. People are giving you a thumbs up or a smile or taking your picture. What other kind of product can you buy and get that immediate admiration?”
“Oh, that’s nice. A thumbs up? For me? Oh, for the Smart car. It’s such a great purchase.” Then you pull out in the intersection and discover you’ve purchased the only car in the history of locomotion that can be destroyed by a Chevy Chevette.
Seriously, how do you survive a collision in this vehicle?
Smart has a steel safety cage and four air bags, including two in front and two on the sides to protect the head and abdomen. It also has standard electronic stability control, which is designed to stop vehicles from swerving off the road. But the small size is off-putting to some drivers, particularly if they’re driving in the shadow of a hulking SUV.
SUV? Try a tractor trailer on the interstate doing 65 mph. Not so Smart then, although you would save some money because they could just bury you in the Smart coffin.
