smart sales in Canada and the U.S.A. 2016

[jwight 117]

And 53 of the USA sales were EDs....

[MikeT 744]

smart only sold 31 cars in Canada last month (June). How many are 453s is not known yet because ED figures have not been released yet.

[smartzuuk 167]

I have seen perhaps ONE 453 on the road in the last six months..... I don't know who owns them - I'm sure very few around these parts.....

Car2Go will surely be buying up some, but I have not seen anything in Vancouver other than the 451s.....

[smartnhappy 218]

Maybe it's time for a Loyalty Incentive Program to encourage and stimulate trade-ins of older Smart cars for new.

How about $5K for '05/'06 450s and $7K and up for 451s, depending on year.

Cars must be running, currently licenced and insured.

Maybe some added incentive for original owner, knowing there's lots out there.

Both GM and Volkwagen don't want my '05 Passion with 120Km, but I'd be interested in a new 453 with the right incentives.

I know that there's very little market for old Smart cars, but MB could choose to re-sell the best of the best trades.

Marketing 101..... "incentivise the customer to help move current and incoming inventory".

And MB has to realize that there's a hell of a lot of brand loyalty in Smart cars. They don't want to loose this important factor.

Other manufacturers offer loyalty incentive lease and purchase programs, so why not MB / Smart ??

We're not talking millions here, just enough to excite potential buyers.

MB could probably pay for the entire program out of petty cash.

Pass this along if you know anybody at Mercedse or Smart, and we'll see what happens.

Can't hurt to try, right?

[David_18 13]

17 300 for a Pure smart and you can get a base Hyundai Elantra for 16 000$..

The smart is too expensive now, and only 2 seats..

[Huronlad 186]

When did they change the Elantra to rear wheel drive? The Elantra is available as a cabrio? Fairly certain the next rear wheel drive vehicle is pushing $30k. For a cabrio $40k or so. For those that want a cheap car, why buy anything other than a base Micra or Spark.

[David_18 13]

Here I see "a lot" of old people in 451 smart, i thing they don't really care about the RWD..

For 20k, in my opinion you can get a more equip car with more space and everything.

If the sell don't go up, i thing this will be the last generation of smart out here.

Edited July 6, 2016 by David_18

[Huronlad 186]

All those old people that learned to drive in RWD cars, I'm sure your right and there is nothing to it.

[David_18 13]

No but, when you buy a smart, you buy it for having something special not for "praticality". Hard to sell 10 000 per year with that, like the Civic do..

Edited July 6, 2016 by David_18

[MikeT 744]

I too suspect that RWD is not a factor for most smart buyers. People just don't care about stuff like this for the most part.

I guess there will have to be some sales incentives to move the stock soon. They're shaping up for another under 1000 sales year unless Car2go buys up a few more hundred.

[darren 192]

Incentive programs don't often kick in until they're trying to get rid of the current model year's inventory before next year's inventory starts coming in. I expect if there's an incentive program coming, it'll be in the August/September time frame. And I doubt it'll be as generous as $5000+. Probably more like $1000-2000.

[DangerDan 9]

On a happier note, I am now seeing new 453s almost daily in Montreal. Many seem to be of the silver + black tridion variety, so I could be waving at the same (confused) driver over and over. Still, I've spotted a white + orange tridion and several blue/silver and white/black ones as well.

Driving down the highway last week, I passed an older gent in a blue + silver 450 cabrio who was enthusiastically giving me the thumbs-up as I went by. I wish I could've told him that I was a 450 owner too.

[MikeT 744]

July 2016

USA: 493

Canada: 53

Edited August 4, 2016 by Mike T
added Canadian sales figure

[MikeT 744]

August 2016:

Canada: 282

USA: 353

[MikeT 744]

September 2016:

Canada: 400

USA: 605

[MikeT 744]

October 2016:

Canada: 65

USA: 418

[MikeT 744]

November 2016:

Canada: 247

USA: 563

[MikeT 744]

December 2016:

Canada: 228; total for 2016: 1875

USA: 1186; total for 2016: 6211

Edited January 5, 2017 by Mike T
added Canadian figures

[niteshooter 30]

On 7/6/2016 at 3:30 PM, David_18 said:

No but, when you buy a smart, you buy it for having something special not for "praticality". Hard to sell 10 000 per year with that, like the Civic do..

 

Sort like a Lotus then?