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eqwalker

Concerns on shortage of Smarts

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Also, I am told that the order in which the $99 deposits were made will determine the order in which people will be offered cars, even if the reservation number would not appear to correlate to the pecking order.They might be able to sell 40,000 or 50,000 of these things Stateside in 2008. Holy smokes!

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Does anybody know if they will ever stop taking reservations? I mean 20,000 already? The Street Smart tour goes on through the end of October. What are they going to have by then, 40,000? Are they going to even be able to deliver 20,000 the first year? I heard they were only planning on importing 16,000 the first year. If they can't deliver on their reservations I gotta think all they are doing by continuing to take them is creating a large group of future unhappy people. I mean, I got mine back within the first 10,000 but if every Tom, Dick and Harry can get a reservation far beyond the company's ability to deliver vehicles what does a reservation even mean? Sure you can "take" the reservation but as every Jerry Seinfeld fan knows, the only important part is your ability to "hold" the reservation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJVtURhm62A

.

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They might be able to sell 40,000 or 50,000 of these things Stateside in 2008. Holy smokes!

I just hope they have enough cars over here by then.

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I wonder too, what is the likely percentage of $99 reservers who will 'cut the cheque' when the phone rings? I mean, some will say 'no thanks'... I'm with Fred J - Penske isn't screwing around. This is a top-shelf customer service organization. I love it though.... I can't wait to see the cars start being delivered in the US.With gas prices and climate change concerns, what's not smart about smart?

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I'm not sure where I am in the lineup, but I sure hope to get mine early next year. I'm just waiting for the call from the dealer to complete my order!

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I'm not sure where I am in the lineup, but I sure hope to get mine early next year. I'm just waiting for the call from the dealer to complete my order!

I asked that question today at one of the road show event today regarding the release dates. Is was told that the first 16000 reserved will likely get them in the first quarter of 08 and the ones that registered later will have them late in the year.

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In Canada the original production allocation from the Hambach France smart factory was upped at least twice in the first 12 months. I am sure that UAG will do the same.

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I mean, I got mine back within the first 10,000 but if every Tom, Dick and Harry can get a reservation far beyond the company's ability to deliver vehicles what does a reservation even mean? Sure you can "take" the reservation but as every Jerry Seinfeld fan knows, the only important part is your ability to "hold" the reservation...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJVtURhm62A.

I love that clip. It cracks me up every time, when he mockingly grasps for reservations in the sky. Just thinking about it makes me giggle.:biglaugh: "And that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take 'em."

I'm not sure where I am in the lineup, but I sure hope to get mine early next year. I'm just waiting for the call from the dealer to complete my order!

Yeah, I'm with you. I wish I had noticed the reservation thing sooner. I put mine in on May 17th so I'm a little worried I won't get it in the first shipments. Dang, I knew I should have signed up for email updates when I first saw them. :banghead:

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Yeah, I'm with you. I wish I had noticed the reservation thing sooner. I put mine in on May 17th so I'm a little worried I won't get it in the first shipments. Dang, I knew I should have signed up for email updates when I first saw them. banghead

I did the same thing. I've been watching the Smart for years....almost put money down on that other (wrong) site. Then I simplynever saw the notice until May too... :(

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It is my opinion that although there are 20,000 reservations for Smart cars that not all the people who paid the $99 will purchase them. I'm just guessing but I am thinking that after the people are contacted by the dealerships and find out all the available options available for their 'reserved' car and perhaps having been to one of the "street smart" road shows that a Smart vehicle isn't for them, therfore I figure that only one out of three will purchase a Smart vehicle. If say 16,000 to 20,000 Smarts were to be sold in the USA then it would be logical to accept around 48,000 to 60,000 reservations and should more reservations than cars be made avaiable to 'reserved' customers then those customers will be put on a waiting list for the next shipment of Smarts.

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Just as a comparison, of the people who were on the Victoria dealer's list for as long as 2.5 years with a $500 deposit, about 80-90% bought a car - that's what I recall my salesman telling me in mid-2005.

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Now, wouldn't it be a shock and a surprise if Smart were to get cars to the "Insiders", that placed their reservations in March, before the beginning of 2008.....................yes, I can dream.....

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I asked that question today at one of the road show event today regarding the release dates. Is was told that the first 16000 reserved will likely get them in the first quarter of 08 and the ones that registered later will have them late in the year.

I don't know where the person who told you that got that 16000 cars would be delivered in the first quarter. But I can guarantee that it is wrong. For a long time, 16k was a number thrown around for total imports the first year. Even with the number of reservations, no way have they bumped the numbers that high. Sorry to burst any hopes.

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I asked that question today at one of the road show event today regarding the release dates. Is was told that the first 16000 reserved will likely get them in the first quarter of 08 and the ones that registered later will have them late in the year.

I don't know where the person who told you that got that 16000 cars would be delivered in the first quarter. But I can guarantee that it is wrong. For a long time, 16k was a number thrown around for total imports the first year. Even with the number of reservations, no way have they bumped the numbers that high. Sorry to burst any hopes.
Yea 16k is a pretty high number. I just hope I make the cut for the early part of 08. If not, I'll just have to wait longer. :sniffle:

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Just as a comparison, of the people who were on the Victoria dealer's list for as long as 2.5 years with a $500 deposit, about 80-90% bought a car - that's what I recall my salesman telling me in mid-2005.

Mike T, was the $500 deposit a reservation fee, or part of a purchase agreement with the dealer? All I know that the smart USA dealer will require an additional deposit on top of the $99 as part of the purchase agreement until they are available for final payment/pick-up.

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Some people put down $200, some put $500 down....we decided on $500 to show we were serious....we were reserving a place in line for that, and of course it was refundable and when a car came in, the deposit (not interest though) was applied against the price of the car.I should point out here that this was at a franchised dealer, not a factory store (a HUGE number of M-B dealers in Canada are owned by the parent company). Ssome M-B shops were creating lists and not asking for deposits. It would be kind of hard to weed the lookie-loos out that way, or have a really concrete idea of how many people may actually buy a car. Remember, this was at a time when M-B Canada was wondering if there was a business case to be made for smart in Canada. I think the ~1000 deposits early on helped out a lot with that decision.When we did the actual car order in late August 2004, I put another $5K down, not because they asked, but because I didn't want to spend it ;)So anyway, the context was quite differentt than it is in the USA.

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Thought I read somewhere that the $99 reservation program does not offer a queue in line for a car. Read through the confirmation page but couldnt find it. Did see this which I didnt see before..... "there is no guarantee that the smart car offered to you will match the preferences you have indicated". ???!

I came across this line too today while rereading my email confirmation for something else.....no one seemed to address this concern in this thread. Does anyone have further info about this. Surely we will get to build (order ) the car to our exact wishes won't we? Or is the factory just going to churn them out at a certain % of pures, passions and cabrios, ship them stateside to dealers (much like US dealers do to stock their lots), and all our registration gets us is to choose from the this available "inventory" coming stateside? :tremble:

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all our registration gets us is to choose from the this available "inventory" coming stateside?

I'm betting that this will be the case depending upon how soon they get the dealers up to speed. :dunno:

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Thought I read somewhere that the $99 reservation program does not offer a queue in line for a car. Read through the confirmation page but couldnt find it. Did see this which I didnt see before..... "there is no guarantee that the smart car offered to you will match the preferences you have indicated". ???!

I came across this line too today while rereading my email confirmation for something else.....no one seemed to address this concern in this thread. Does anyone have further info about this. Surely we will get to build (order ) the car to our exact wishes won't we? Or is the factory just going to churn them out at a certain % of pures, passions and cabrios, ship them stateside to dealers (much like US dealers do to stock their lots), and all our registration gets us is to choose from the this available "inventory" coming stateside? :tremble:
I don't think you will be disappointed on this.

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Thought I read somewhere that the $99 reservation program does not offer a queue in line for a car. Read through the confirmation page but couldnt find it. Did see this which I didnt see before..... "there is no guarantee that the smart car offered to you will match the preferences you have indicated". ???

!

I came across this line too today while rereading my email confirmation for something else.....no one seemed to address this concern in this thread. Does anyone have further info about this. Surely we will get to build (order ) the car to our exact wishes won't we? Or is the factory just going to churn them out at a certain % of pures, passions and cabrios, ship them stateside to dealers (much like US dealers do to stock their lots), and all our registration gets us is to choose from the this available "inventory" coming stateside? :tremble:
I don't think you will be disappointed on this.
So it this to say if I come away with any Smart Fortwo......"any Smart is better then no Smart!" :?

Seriously, do you have any info to back this up?

I had just emailed SMARTUSA on this one....I'll let you know what I hear! :hmm:

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Don't worry; aphoenix is in a position to know these things.

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And here I was, after reading aphoenix's guarantee comment, ready to say this looks like something that might be worth a wager on. Could we take bets on the actual outcome? Just something friendly. As for me, I'm going to be content with my conversion smart and wait for some kind of hybrid, electric or diesel model to come out in a few years and then buy what will likely be my last car. But, I'm not going to let go of the one I have.darryl

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