DaimlerChrysler’s Smart brand on Monday said it aims to sell 30,000 cars a year in the US, once it enters the market with a sport utility vehicle in 2006, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
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The report said Smart, which is currently loss making, is launching a sport utility vehicle, called ‘formore’ in the second half of 2006. The vehicle, which will be built in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, has an annual production capacity of 60,000 and Smart said it plans to sell half of these in the US and half in other markets.
“(The formore) is the ideal model to launch the Smart brand in the US market,” Smart President Andreas Renschler reportedlt said in a statement.
According to Dow Jones, the company, which sold 123,500 cars in 2003, claims the new model, its fourth, will occupy a unique niche in the popular SUV segment.
The report noted that SUV’s name follows the same logic as the company’s other car names, which includes the two-seater urban transport ‘fortwo’ and the four-seater compact ‘forfour,’ which will be launched in April. The exception is the Smart roadster.
Dow Jones said Smart began in 1998 as an urban mobility concept – its micro two-seater model was aimed at drivers in crowded cities worried about parking spaces. But after a disappointing start, it has since attempted to recast itself as a lifestyle brand, appealing to hip, young drivers, the report added.
