For many years, those responsible for Daimler had plans for a smart SUV called For All in the drawer. This never became a reality. With the restart of the brand, now under the joint umbrella of Daimler and Geely, the long-awaited crossover comes.
Hardly any other car brand was as innovative and visionary as Smart. But the smart idea, once initiated by Johann Tomforde and Swatch founder Nicolas Hayek, became a dead bullet for Daimler and a billion dollar grave. The Smart factory in Hambach was sold to the off-road vehicle manufacturer Ineos and the small car brand was incorporated into a joint company that is managed equally by Mercedes and Geely. The two equal partners want to develop the former Daimler small car brand into a global provider of networked, battery-electric premium vehicles for discerning customer groups. The development of the next generation of smart vehicles takes place in Geely’s global engineering network; the exterior and interior design is created by Mercedes. The platform, battery and drive technology are from Geely.
It should start in 2022/2023 and what the first vehicle might look like can be marveled at at the Munich IAA 2021. Not surprisingly: the debut is an electric SUV with compact dimensions. However, the number one smart concept has lost its original design without the Tridion safety cell that was once established. Number one is a gleaming white crossover that is 4.29 meters long and ranks in the VW Golf or Opel Mokka class – purely electric, of course. The near-series study is inconspicuous and not very spectacular. Unlike the IAA outlook, the later series model will be a five-seater without the counter-opening doors of the concept number one.
Inside there is plenty of space for four people, a 12.8 inch touchscreen and otherwise a reduction to the essentials. “With the smart Concept # 1 as the forerunner of the next smart model generation, we are celebrating an important milestone,” says Daniel Lescow, Vice President Global Sales, Marketing & After-Sales at Smart, “the near-series study is an exciting foretaste of what ours will be Customers can expect from the Smart brand. The new Concept # 1 is the first outlook on our vision of a new and sustainable mobility. It is characterized by progressive design, premium equipment and advanced technology. ” Thanks to the over-the-air software updates, more than 75 percent of all control units can be continuously updated remotely. Incidentally, a look at the rear window shows that restarting the brand could not be easy. If you look closely, you will see a small picture on the underside on the right, like the Smart SUV steering into a hurricane.
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