by Sam Abuelsamid

Jan 5th 2010

Just a few weeks ago, former Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak was hired by Penske Automotive to head sales and marketing for its Smart USA operations. Now, Smart has announced that Lajdziak will take over the entire operation as the new president of Smart USA, replacing Dave Schembri who has held the post since its inception.

In the past several months, sales of the Smart Fortwo have collapsed in the States, with November down 65 percent. From where we sit, Lajdziak has a tough job ahead of her, trying to find a way to convince buyers that a tiny but not inexpensive car with disappointing fuel economy and a horrible transmission is a good idea. To be fair, tilting at windmills is nothing new for Lajdziak, who worked at Saturn throughout its entire nearly twenty year run. Revamping the sales network will apparently be a big part of her job, since a revamped version of the Fortwo is not on the immediate horizon. You can check out the official press release after the jump.


PRESS RELEASE


Penske Automotive Announces Management Changes at smart USA
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI,

January 4, 2010 – Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG), an international automotive retailer and exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo through its wholly-owned subsidiary smart USA Distributor LLC ("smart USA"), announced today that Jill Lajdziak has been named President of smart USA. In this role, Lajdziak will assume day to day operations for the smart brand in the United States. Lajdziak has over 30 years of progressive automotive experience, including expertise in brand development, product marketing and customer satisfaction. Penske Automotive Group Chairman Roger Penske said, "As we look to enhance the position of the smart brand, Jill's background and experience will help us reinvigorate the dealer network and bring a greater awareness to the smart brand." Previously, smart USA was managed by Dave Schembri. Schembri will transition into Penske Automotive Group's retail operations. Penske continued, "I would like to thank Dave for his efforts over the last three and a half years with smart USA. His contributions were instrumental in helping us bring smart to the United States."

About Penske Automotive

Penske Automotive Group, Inc., (www.penskeautomotive.com) headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, operates 310 retail automotive franchises, representing 40 different brands and 25 collision repair centers. Penske Automotive, which sells new and previously owned vehicles, finance and insurance products and replacement parts, and offers maintenance and repair services on all brands it represents, has 160 franchises in 17 states and Puerto Rico and 150 franchises located outside the United States, primarily in the United Kingdom. Penske Automotive, through its wholly-owned subsidiary smart USA Distributor LLC (www.smartusa.com), is the exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo vehicle and related parts in the United States. smart USA supports over 75 smart retail centers in the United States. Penske Automotive is a member of the Fortune 500 and Russell 1000 and has approximately 14,000 employees. smart and fortwo are registered trademarks of Daimler AG.
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Courtesy of Daimler Media Services

Production of the smart fortwo electric drive Hambach, France
Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 19, 2009

Production of 1,000 units begins
· First European electric vehicle fully operational in everyday use
· Available to the general public as of 2012

Hambach, France / Stuttgart, Germany --- This week, Daimler AG started production of the smart fortwo electric drive at the smart plant in Hambach, France. In a first step, 1,000 vehicles will be provided to customers participating in various mobility projects in major cities in Europe and the U.S., in order to generate broad feedback on electric driving under everyday conditions.

Marc Langenbrinck, Managing Director of the smart brand: “With the start of the series production of the smart fortwo electric drive, the Hambach plant enters a new era – at the same time, the smart fortwo emphazises its pioneering role on the way to individual mobility with local zero-emissions in cities and urban areas. Its innovative battery-electric drive makes the smart fortwo electric drive the ideal vehicle for the city: it combines responsibility to the environment with driving fun and joie de vivre in a virtually perfect manner.”

The second-generation smart fortwo electric drive started now is equipped with the most modern lithium-ion-battery. As of 2012, the smart fortwo electric drive will be produced as a regular part of the smart product portfolio and will regularly be sold through the smart sales network.

First Milestones in 2007 and 2008
The smart brand has taken a pioneering role in electric mobility since 2007. Back then, 100 smart fortwo electric drives of the first generation went into practical customer operation under everyday conditions of city traffic in London. Feedback from this project has been very positive right from the start and confirmed the high degree of maturity of this vehicle concept.

Just one year later, the company introduced the second generation - which is now being produced - with an even more advanced electric drive and an innovative, highly efficient lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion technology has decisive advantages over other types of batteries including higher performance, shorter charging times, a long life and high reliability. In addition, a smart fortwo electric drive can be charged at a regular household power outlet.

A story of success: The smart Plant in Hambach
The smart plant in Hambach was inaugurated in 1997. Since 1998, it has produced the smart fortwo, since 2007 in its current generation. In 2008, more than 800 employees of the plant and some further 800 people employed by seven system partners produced about 140,000 units of the smart fortwo. In September 2008, the brand celebrated its tenth anniversary along with the 1-millionth smart fortwo produced at the Hambach plant.

The Hambach plant has represented an innovative production concept since its beginning: The assembly line in the shape of a plus sign has been designed to optimally meet the demands of assembly and logistics and ensures highly efficient production processes. This principle enables the system partners to supply modules directly to the assembly line, which reduces transport and logistics efforts to a minimum and hereby also provides an advantage regarding ecological aspects. In addition, the environmentally friendly and cost effective paint shop, an energy concept with numerous savings opportunities and the construction principle of the vehicles ensure that the ecological product responsibility of the smart brand is translated into the production.

About smart
Environmental friendliness and contemporary functionality have been defining features of the smart fortwo ever since it was launched more than ten years ago. Since then its innovative concept has combined sustainable, forward-looking technologies with individual urban mobility. With a length of just over two and a half meters, the extremely compact and fuel-efficient vehicle brings its occupants to their destination comfortably and safely. Its distintive design made smart an automotive lifestyle icon which shows that mobility, responsibility to the environment and joie de vivre are compatible with one another. The smart fortwo has established a class of its own.

Today, smart is present in 41 markets around the globe, with most recent market launches in China and Brazil. Germany, Italy, and the U.S. are key markets.

Further information from Daimler is available on the Internet at
www.media.daimler.com

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Smart fortwo gets top rating for roof strength
KEN THOMAS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 20, 2009
WASHINGTON - The tiny Smart fortwo automobile received top scores Thursday in new roof strength tests conducted by the insurance industry aimed at helping consumers understand how vehicles respond to serious rollover crashes.
The fortwo was the only 2009 model year minicar to earn the top rating of good in test results released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Mini Cooper and Toyota Yaris received the second-highest mark of acceptable. The 2009 Chevrolet Aveo got the second-lowest score of marginal.
More than 10,000 people are killed in rollover crashes in the United States each year. The Obama administration issued new regulations in May on vehicle roof strength requirements, the first significant upgrade of the rules since 1973.
With the changes, vehicles need to withstand direct pressure of three times the weight of the vehicle, compared with the previous requirements of 1.5 times the vehicle's weight. The regulations will be phased in beginning in September 2012 and will affect all vehicles by the 2017 model year.
The institute testing is more demanding. It requires a vehicle's roof to withstand a force of four times the vehicle's weight to receive the top score. For the second-highest rating, a roof must withstand a force of 3.25 times the vehicle weight. The second-lowest score applies to vehicles with a strength-to-weight ratio of 2.5, and anything lower receives the worst rating.
Tests results found the fortwo had the highest strength-to-weight ratio of 5.41, followed by the Yaris with 3.78, Accent with 3.72 and the Mini Cooper with 3.44. The Fit's strength-to-weight ratio was 3.42, and the Aveo's was 3.09.
"The federal government's leisurely phase-in of the new standard means roofs won't have to get stronger right away, so we plan to continue rating vehicle roof strength for the foreseeable future," institute president Adrian Lund said.
GM spokeswoman Janine Freuhan said "one test alone does not determine whether a vehicle is safe." She said all GM vehicles, including the Aveo, meet government safety standards.
Dave Schembri, president of smart USA, said it was the latest standardized crash test performed by the government or the insurance industry that confirms the fortwo's safety features.
"As our society increasingly turns to small cars, Smart proves that small can be safe," Schembri said.

A front pager to be sure...

Source: http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=1774935

''enter the SmartCar '' ''you can’t even fit a golf bag in the tiny trunk'' Did he even try?
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by Steve LaFerre


Long gone are the lengthy wheel-base land cruisers of the past. Their highway space has been taken by mid-size cars, compact cars and now mini- and micro-cars.

All of these are smaller than the 1960 Cadillac that could have hauled five NBA starters. After all, it was nearly 19 feet long with a curb weight of 4,722 pounds. My late model 4x4 Blazer only has a curb weight of 3,536 pounds, and my next vehicle won’t be anywhere near that.

Be that as it may, a 1960 Caddy used “high test” gasoline at 30 cents a gallon, put up numbers that were less than 10 mpg and nobody cared. Why would they? Times were good and the U.S. was “the” major global economic superpower.

Today times are not as good, so automakers and tiremakers are on the hunt to relieve household budgets, as well as present an uncomplicated way to get to and from work with reasonable operating costs.

In that spirit, enter the SmartCar – all 8.8 feet of it – with miles per gallon set at 40 or 41, depending who you talk to. The pint-sized two- or four-door car also features different front and rear tire sizes: 155/60R15 on the front and 175/55R15 on the rear. Without the driver, this hummingbird of a car sports a curb weight of 1,653 pounds and the two-door model can handle a payload of just 507 pounds. The wheelbase on this mighty mite is just 73.5 inches – about the length of a very short NBA guard.

This vehicle was first spotted in Europe in 1994, the product of a Daimler Benz and Swatch Watch project. So small is this car that stories abound when it comes to parking the little ride. Here goes: If the car won’t quite maneuver into a parking space, lift it up with your buddies and carry it into the space. Two will fit side-by-side comfortably in a standard American parking space.

Here’s the problem with this car, if there is one: If you and your passenger each weigh 200 pounds, you only have a margin of 107 pounds to haul something. Heck, you can’t even fit a golf bag in the tiny trunk, if that’s what the cargo space can be called. The good news here is that the SmartCar is visually interesting. The bad news: it screams lack of load carrying capacity.

No wonder the SmartCar only requires a three cylinder, 1-liter engine that generates the 71 horsepower needed to push it up to 90 mph.

When it comes to replacement or upgrade tires for the SmartCar, all you have to do is check the maximum weight allowed by the manufacturer and be sure you don’t overload the tires. You’ll find this information in the owner’s manual.

Still, there are a few twists to the SmartCar’s tire and wheel package. Although it is expected to cause no problems, the OE wheels come with a three-bolt pattern. But because of the wheel size differences – 4.5 on the front and 5.5 on the rear – tires cannot be rotated as usual.

You can rotate side-to-side, keeping the fronts on the front and rears on the back, but that’s it. When a customer comes in with strange wear patterns and tread depths that are on the borderline, you have no choice but to tell the customer he or she has to replace all four tires.

You can, of course, rotate side to side, but this is not always advisable given the oddities of tire wear patterns. The owner will most likely come back with ride complaints.

Another surprise from SmartCar makers, operated by Penske Auto Group in North America, is the fact that premium fuel is required. This isn’t particularly good news with the availability of other micro-cars that offer higher mpg on regular unleaded fuel.
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Author Hugo Jobling
Published 22nd Jun 2009
Manufacturer Smart

Despite having suffered a fair amount of ridicule from some circles, Smart has carved itself out quite a niche in the car market over the last few years. The company was founded in the ideology that a huge number of people buy cars that, considering their intended use, are grossly impractical - whether that be their size, cost of ownership, or level of pollution - and the belief that there must be a solution to this problem.


It's a viewpoint that many have come around to, as evidenced not only by the growing sales figures Smart has seen, but also by the level of support Smart is receiving from the EU and various European governments.



Improving and promoting 'Green' credentials is becoming more important to both the current UK government and its rival parties, and Labour has gone so far as to put its money where its mouth is, offering tax breaks for owning low (or zero) emission cars as well as cash incentives for purchasing them in the first place.


There's also a growing level of public desire, too, for environmentally friendly cars. And that's not to mention the other perks of owning a smart car, such as being able to park pretty much anywhere thanks to its tiny size.


With that in mind, when Smart invited me to take a look at - and drive in - its latest electric-powered Smart ed it was impossible to resist.


If you buy into the hype, electric cars are the way of the future. Toyota has made decent headway with its Prius Hybrid and companies such as Tesla have eschewed the fuel-driven elements of their vehicles altogether.


These zero emission cars certainly top trump their rivals when it comes to their day-to-day green credentials. So while the Smart ed itself isn't available to buy, the 100 test cars Smart has dotted around the UK will be used to provide the feedback it needs to optimise a road-going version.


To ensure it really does live up to its zero emission credentials, Smart has only allowed companies agreeing to provide the electricity the ed requires from renewable sources to take part in its trial. Cleverly, the car can be charged from any three-pin socket, thus making the Smart ed that bit more usable.


Externally there's noting to differentiate the ed from any other Smart Fortwo and I would defy anyone to tell an electric and petrol Smart apart other than by the inevitably smug, self-satisfied look the driver of the former will likely be wearing. There's plenty of magic going on inside, however.


Currently the Smart ed uses a 'hot' nickel hydride battery, but production cars will use a 'cold' Lithium-Ion battery, supposedly improving performance and reducing charge times. I was advised a range improvement wasn't likely as a result of the change but that the improvements in other areas are definitely worthwhile. As it happens, Smart is a stakeholder in the company which produces the batteries used in the ed - which also supplies Tesla, among other electric car companies - so it has a doubly vested interest in ensuring their quality.


A full charge, Smart says, should take around eight hours, providing a 72 mile range, the equivalent of approximately 300mpg, sucking away at around £1 worth of electricity. While that's a maximum, it should still be more than enough for the average commuter to get to and from work, especially if there's facility to top-up the car in the office car park. Just don't expect to make it from London to Brighton with high beam headlights on and the radio blaring out at full volume.


The Zyxtel brushless motor used in the Smart ed provides 75bhp and 89lb ft of torque. By dint of being an electric car all of that output is available from standing and as such the car can reach 31mph in 6.5 seconds, continuing on to a limited 60mph. That's not exactly AMG territory, but driving about in fairly heavy London traffic I can't say I ever craved more acceleration.


Sitting inside the Smart ed is a disconcerting experience. Even when you know not to expect any sound, turning a key and hearing only a bleep to tell you the car is indeed turned on is just plain weird. What's even stranger is that, having pressed in the brake pedal to shift the Smart ed into drive, is how, at least driving around Shoreditch, little it felt like I was driving an electric car. Pressing on the throttle, instead of the rumble of a petrol or diesel engine I was subjected to a low pitched whine accompanied buy a not-inconspicuous amount of tyre noise.

The Smart ed is hardly the last word in comfort. Unless I was being particularly unobservant, a radio is the only mod con provided. I can only hope that in production electric cars, Smart can fix it so that accelerating at anything more than a crawl doesn't cause the radio to stutter for a moment. Even when it does remain powered on, it's an almost annoyingly basic affair.


Given the prototype nature of the ed I'm willing to give Smart the benefit of the doubt and assume that production vehicles won't be as sparse, but with power at a premium in an electric vehicle, don't expect anything as exciting as air conditioning or a built-in sat-nav. Not that in a car designed purely for commuting short distanced such extravagances are entirely necessary anyway.


Smart won't talk pricing for the ed yet, which is hardly surprising as it isn't going to be made available to the public for a while yet and Smart doesn't really know what its production costs will be as every Smart ed made so far has been pretty much hand built. Furthermore, Smart is keen to point out that with an electric car you're partly buying your fuel up front - thanks to the added cost of the batteries - so a direct comparison to its fuelled cars isn't really fair.





With the government set to invest £250m into promoting low-carbon transport in 2012, buyers of the Smart ed are hardly likely to be paying a premium for the privilege, with subsidies of up to £3k on a new car suggested. Then there's road tax exemption, likely cheap insurance and, as Smart is always keen to point out, the ability to fit two Fortwos in one 'normal' parking space.


I didn't expect to be impressed by the Smart ed, if I'm entirely honest, but having spent some time with the car I'm pretty much sold. Okay, so I won't buy one myself, but I wouldn't actively dissuade anyone from doing so and that's a first for a Smart car.
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