They missed out so much with the ForFour....
Rather than do what VW does...have a family of cars, so that if you don't buy a VW but
instead buy a SEAT, then they've still sold one of their group of cars. Unlike the lack of
group choice in MB. And they'd rather not be associated with the name/brand of Smart
if the truth were but known.
I took my Forfour to a well known independent for the two year service. The founder member there said he left Smart because of the way the marque was being treated by Mercedes. He identified leaking rear shock absorbers and told me to book it in at Mercedes for replacements. When I got there I found two reception areas one big one for Mercedes and a small one in the corner for Smart.
Why did they feel the need to duplicate staff and separate the two areas.
To my way of thinking Mercedes shot themselves in the foot through internal struggles probably to do with snobbery. When I looked in the garage area where the mechanics were working I couldn't believe what I saw. It looked more like an operating theatre than a garage.
The Forfour should have been given the support that it deserved from Mercedes from the start, but sadly like the demise of the british motorcycle industry the bean crunchers and accountants have more sway than the design and engineering staff.
Before BINIs became a standalone brand they were sold alongside BMWs but to one side, normally with the used BMWs. So what Mercedes were doing was right, they are a prestige brand selling a premium hatchback.
Personally Smart of Ipswich had a singular reception desk and service dept. smart was at the back of the showroom but was well treated. Their service dept. was great and treated everyone equally.
The trouble is no-one could see the point of a premium hatchback 8 years ago, now with the 500, BINI, Citigo, the upcoming Adam, etc. people now want an upmarket small car. Why buy a 'tin can' Panda (which does the job adequately) when you can pay over the odds for essentially the same running gear but with a 'cute' body?
Things have changed a lot and smart need to pull something spectacular out of the hat for the forfour replacement.
Anyhoos, you will soon be able to buy an SUV for £10k based on a Clio/Megane - the Dacia Duster or a Chinese Great Wall Stead 4x4 pick-up for £16k... we are slowly getting back budget brands like the Koreans and Japanese used to do (which now considered standard and no longer budget brands).
