U.S. Smart ForTwo demand outpacing supply
With America’s green movement humming along at full song, automakers have seen a sharp increase in demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. But apparently in some cases, that demand is far out weighing supply. Such is the case with Mercedes-Benz’s Smart brand, which — despite being on the market for only a few months — already has a 15,000 vehicle deficit.
Smart’s sole distributor in the United States is the Penske Automotive Group and its CEO, Roger Penske, said last week at the New York Auto Show that he doesn’t expect supply of the micro ForTwo city car to keep up with demand.
Because Smart’s factory is already running at full capacity, the U.S. is only scheduled to get about 25,000 units this year. However, Penske says he could easily sell 40,000 ForTwo this year — 15,000 more than he will get. Moreover, every last ForTwo bound for the States has already been spoken for, leaving some customers waiting until next year’s batch.
However, there is some hope if you haven’t yet put a deposit down on an 2008 model. Likely due to the refundable $99 deposit required to get you in line to buy a new Smart, some dealerships are experiencing a cancellation rate as high as 25 percent. David Schembri, president of Smart USA, declined to specify Smart’s overall cancel rate but said it is low.
According to AutoWeek, Smart hopes to deliver 3,000 cars through its current network 67 dealers of by the end of the first quarter. By year’s end, Smart should have 74 dealership online — a total that will stay relatively flat for the foreseeable future.
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