The Smart Car Is Officially Dead in the U.S.

The Smart city-car brand will soon cease operations in the U.S. as its single model, the Fortwo, goes away after the 2019 model year. Smart, which is owned by Daimler, had already stopped selling the gasoline-powered Fortwo in America, restricting the lineup to include only the electric model starting in 2017. The 2019 Smart EQ Fortwo is still on sale for the time being, starting at $24,650, but won't be around for long. Smart is officially exiting the U.S. market and will stop importing its all-electric Fortwo city car to North America after the 2019 model year. A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz said in a statement that the high cost of homologating the Fortwo for the U.S., combined with slow sales, led to the decision. Smart had already dropped the gasoline-powered Fortwo from its lineup in 2017, leaving only the electric Fortwo that was recently rebadged as an EQ model to correspond with Mercedes-Benz's new electric subbrand.

A subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz and parent company Daimler, Smart first arrived in the U.S. in 2008 and sold nearly 25,000 copies of the Fortwo in its first year. Sales have been on a steep decline since then, and the downward trend took a sharp turn when the gasoline models were dropped from the lineup. A paltry 1276 Smart vehicles were sold in the U.S. throughout all of 2018. R.I.P. these vehicles are dead for 2020 These Vehicles Are Discontinued for 2021 dead cars 2020 These Vehicles Are Discontinued for 2020 Mercedes-Benz says that dealerships will continue to provide service and parts for current owners of both gasoline- and electric-powered Smart Fortwo models. Smart's U.S. website currently lists 82 dealers nationwide that are authorized to service the cars, with 23 of those dealers listed as having Smart inventory. this article can be found in its entirety at car and driver