By Sam HaymartPublished: August 24, 2009Posted in: Cars, FutureTags: Diesel, diesel cars, ForTwo, fuel economy, Smart
When the Smart ForTwo hit America’s shores last year it got a pretty good initial sales burst due to the novelty factor. But once gas prices dropped back down from $4.50 a gallon and buyers realized the relative gas hog only gets about 40mpg on a good day, interest fell flat.
With the largest of gasoline engines available in the Smart being the only power plant offered in the US, 35-40 mpg is hardly a justification to buy a 2-seat micro-car purely for efficiency sake. When you consider you can get a Toyota Yaris, a Jetta TDI, or any Hybrid and attain the same mpg and get a real car to boot, it makes the Smart, not such a smart buy.
In Europe however the Smart has enjoyed much success with their home-market diesel versions which can get 65-70mpg. For reasons that are of course beyond comprehension, Penske and Daimler had not considered offering the diesel here, until now.
The news is on the street that Daimler has increased production capacity for the diesel-powered 2010 Smart ForTwo’s for the European market. In addition, they are finally coming to their senses and considering exporting it to North America. This would be a dramatic and smart shall we say strategy to improve sales. If Americans saw that they could get the diesel ForTwo’s stated 69mpg, they might be willing to buy a purpose built commuter car after all.
For 2010 the diesel ForTwo engine’s power output is up 21 percent to 54 horsepower.
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