A BusinessWeek report suggests that DaimlerChrysler is seriously evaluating proposals to sell the MCC Smart car in selected US cities. The report suggests that the idea of marketing the cars in the US has gained currency internally within DC in the face of MCC losses of around $300 million per annum.
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A price tag as high as $15,000 per unit and sales of 8,000 units a year in the US would make marketing the diminutive city cars in the US very profitable and support the under-pressure marque.
The car has achieved some success in European cities such as Berlin and Rome, and the BusinessWeek report suggests that the cars could be made available in ‘hip cities’ such as Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. A convertible would likely sell well in California.
Wes Brown, an analyst at Nextrend Inc., told BusinessWeek that he believes US sales of the Smart could reach 20,000 vehicles a year. “It’s a cool-looking car,” he says. “Nothing else looks like it on the road.”
Although DC’s Smart division is losing money, the sales figures for DaimlerChrysler’s Micro Compact Car (MCC) smart city-coupé and cabrio rose by 6.3% in the first half of the year over the same period of last year, to 62,450 units.
The brand also benefits from the addition of a 4-seater to be unveiled in Europe in 2004, which shares platform (Z-car) and componentry with a small Mitsubishi.
