“Harder, better, faster, stronger…” – the irony that I’m listening to Daft Punk as I write this…anyway. The Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Discoball made an appearance at the 2011 New York Auto Show yesterday. The one-off model designed by Apparatjik for the new film Pixel City, will be displayed for public viewing for the duration [...]
I’m sure a good amount of you will remember the disco years, because I sure as hell don’t…simply because I wasn’t even born yet. But don’t worry, disco has yet to find itself left in the pages of history permanently because, well, DISCO IS BACK BABY! *cue the John Travolta scene from Saturday Night Fever* [...]
As seen last week, the Smart ForTwo Concept will be making its debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. Daimler and Mercedes-Benz have now released some more pictures of the concept prior to its auto show debut and while it looks like it’s gunning for speed, the Forspeed is everything but fast. Click here for [...]
Despite the recent relinquishing control of Smart to Daimler, Penske automotive is looking good for the near-term. For 2010, the company earned $108.3 million on revenue of $10.7 billion, while losing about $16 million on Smart USA. Penske invested heavily in the rights to distribute the Daimler-made cars in 2008 on spec that gasoline would [...]
Mercedes-Benz has decided to take over distribution of Smart from Penske automotive, the companies announced today. Penske launched Smart for Mercedes as an independent distributor back in 2008, but sales fizzled quickly after a fast start. Mercedes Benz USA will absorb all distribution and management rights. Negotiations, including details of the date of the takeover [...]
The 2011 New York Auto Show is right around the corner (well press days start on April 21, 2011, but you know how we feel about shows). At the show in New York, a jury of 66 distinguished auto journalists from around the world will name the 2011 World Car Award winners including the 2011 [...]
Smart has officially entered the EV game, and in dramatic fashion, Smart USA executive and racing legend Roger Penske personally made the first delivery. The car was delivered to Army Major Mindy Kimball, a big believer in the potential of EVs. The body of the vehicle is the same as those already in production, but [...]
Mercedes-Benz is reportedly working on a competitor to BMW’s Megacity vehicle. According to reports coming out of Europe, Mercedes-Benz has kicked of styling studies into a range of new alternative-drive city vehicles that will compete with the line of BMW Megacity and BMW Project i vehicles. The Mercedes-Benz Megacity competitor is currently being styled at [...]
To reduce the costs of powering electric cars, Toyota, Daimler, and BMW are looking to test packs of Li batteries assembled by Tesla, as opposed to other bigger batteries used by GM, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. The power source used by Tesla is derived from the same battery technology that powers laptops. A pack of 6,831 [...]
Hertz Corporation and Smart USA announced today that they will bring the Smart ForTwo electric drive vehicles to Connect by Hertz car sharing program and Hertz Rent A Car locations in New York, Washington, DC, and San Francisco. “Hertz’s partnership with smart USA is another strategic element of our long term plan to provide consumers [...]
