from Motor Brands
We will find the best quote.
Most insurance companies do not provide competitive motor insurance quotes based solely on the make & model of car you drive. However the type of car you drive, in your case Smart, makes a real difference to the amount you get quoted. We have teamed up with Call Connection, a major UK company who specialise in the placement of motor insurance business, which includes insurance for cars made by Smart.
Call Connection will take a few details about you and your insurance needs and then place the enquiry with the most suitable insurer or broker for your insurance.
Insurance for Smart Cars
0800 4791351
Smart, formerly Smart GmbH (formerly MCC Smart GmbH), an automotive brand of Daimler AG, is a manufacturer of microcars and superminis based in Böblingen, Germany, produced in Hambach (France).
It is marketed as the "smart" in all lower case with the current Smart brand logo denoting a letter "c" for "compact" and an arrow for "forward thinking".
[edit] Company history
The idea behind the "Smart car" was to create a vehicle easy to park and short enough to allow "nose-in" parking. Its length of 250 centimeters would equal the width of a regular parking slot, allowing two or three Smarts to park in the space as one normal car.
The project, started by Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch, was nicknamed the "Swatchmobile". The name Smart is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART.[1] Intended to use innovative features (such as a hybrid engine) and be affordable for young people, the Smart had similar design objective to the Citroën 2CV of the 1940s.
Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek sought an established car maker to produce his Swatch car. After General Motors reviewed and rejected the project as potentially unprofitable, Hayek found a partner in Volkswagen. Due to VW's own financial weakness at the time, plans never reached a final stage so Swatch teamed up with Daimler-Benz. The purpose-built factory complex Smartville in Hambach, France, was established in 1994 as a joint-venture of Daimler-Benz and Swatch.
An Australian dealer web site provides the following summary of the beginnings of the product:
"How everything began: In 1993 Mercedes-Benz started a feasibility study on a subcompact car. Together with the Swatch Group Ltd. they founded the Micro Compact Car AG in 1994. The Smart city-coupé celebrates its world première at the IAA in Frankfurt (Germany) in 1997 and is one year successfully launched in nine European countries. By now, the Smart is available in 25 countries all over the world and was sold over 750,000 times."[2]
The final car design proved to be far from Hayek's expectations: its engine eco-technology was outside of Mercedes' goal. The joint venture experienced heavy losses and dispute then Swatch pulled out.
In 2005, DaimlerChrysler decided against purchasing a 50% share in the Dutch NedCar plant used to manufacture the Forfour supermini. DC also halted development on the Formore and decided to discontinue production of the Roadster.
In 2006, after dwindling sales, Smart GmbH was liquidated and its operations were absorbed within the Mercedes-Benz automobile group. It was later revealed that Smart GmbH lost nearly 4 billion euros from 2003 to 2006. [1]
[edit] Models
Apart from the original short Smart Fortwo, a sporty Smart Roadster, a limited production of 2000 concept Smart Crosstown and a supermini Smart Forfour were also offered. These have now been discontinued. There were also plans to introduce a Brazilian-made cross-over based on the body of the ForFour and the AWD hardware of the Mercedes C-class with the name of Formore but industrialization of this was cancelled at the 11th hour (even as tooling was being installed in the assembly plant) due to unfavourable exchange rate swings and spending cutbacks driven by losses elsewhere within smart.
[edit] Production Models
Production Model Picture
1998-2003 smart City-Coupé & City-Cabrio* (*from 2000)
2002 smart Crossblade
2003-2007 smart City-Coupé & City-Cabrio (renamed Fortwo in 2004)
2003-2005 smart Roadster
2004-2006 smart Forfour
2007-present smart Fortwo
2008-present (At the moment only trialling, expected for Q4 2008 in UK)[3] smart Fortwo EV (also known as ED)
smart K (Japan only)
[edit] Concept and unproduced models
Crosstown
Tridon 4
Formore
[edit] Electric versions
Main article: Smart EV
An electric, rechargeable version is being released in the UK as a lease vehicle on a limited basis. At the Smart Car Brooklands event in July 1998, a Smart EV was on display within "MercedesWorld" and a representative stated that the car would be for sale in the UK in 2010. Daimler will start the production of the electric Smart equipped with lithium-ion batteries in 2009 and production will ramp up to mass production by 2012.[4] A Smart Forfour has been converted into a plug-in hybrid by Lithium Technology Corporation and Zytek Systems. The lithium-ion battery can propel the vehicle up to 84 mph (135 km/h) and last on its own for up to 20 miles (32 km). The engine is a combination of a 68 horsepower, 1.5 liter, 3-cylinder turbo charged diesel engine and two high-efficiency permanent-magnet electric motors. It was awarded by the Energy Saving Trust for the “Ultra Low Carbon Car Challenge” project [5].
Daimler AG and RWE AG have launched the world's largest joint project for environmentally friendly electric cars. Daimler will provide more than 100 electric cars from Mercedes-Benz and smart as well as the vehicle service.The new generation of smart ed (electric drive) and electric-battery driven vehicles from Mercedes-Benz will come in use within the "e-mobility Berlin" project. RWE is handling the development, installation and operation of the charging infrastructure". The new project is also benefiting from the experience gained by Daimler during the current pilot project involving electro-mobility in London. Since last year, there has been a test fleet of first-generation Smart Fortwo ed cars . The start of serial production of battery-powered vehicles by Mercedes-Benz and smart is in 2010