New MB Sales Record for Smart

Renningen, Germany, January 09, 2002

Micro Compact Car smart GmbH has concluded 2001 with the best results since the launch of the smart in October 1998. The almost 14 percent increase to the number of cars sold and exceeding a turnover of 1 billion euro are further milestones in reaching the planned break-even in 2004.

Andreas Renschler, chairman of the management board at MCC smart says that "Growing customer interest in our products, the professionalism of the distribution channel and the creativity and motivation of the smart employees have led to this pleasing result".

Last year the markets with the strongest sales were again Germany (46,705) and Italy (30,031), followed by France (8,738) and Switzerland (6,131). Double-digit growth rates were achieved in Holland (16.9 percent), Italy (16.1 percent), Austria (14.6 percent) and Spain (13.8 percent).

The total sales figure of 116,162 cars for last year also includes the first right-hand drive smart City-Coupés for the Japanese and British markets. The smart k, which was presented in Tokyo in October, has also got off to a good start. On account of its dimensions this car offers customers in the local market high tax advantages in some cases.

Compared with the competitors in the minicar segment, by November 2001 this meant that MCC smart had a 8.58 percent share of the European market. This result (previous year: 8.46 percent) was achieved contrary to the general market trend. Cars from smart are now sold in 14 countries, most of which are in Europe. After Portugal and Sweden as new markets in 2001, for this year market entry is planned in Croatia, Hungary and Taiwan.

The success of the product is based on the variety of car variants, which was greatly extended last year. Customers can now put together their individual smart from a choice of almost 300 different possibilities.

Philipp Schiemer, Marketing & Sales director at MCC smart says that "As our customer structure is unusually wide, the greater choice of variants is a further measure to comply with the wishes of smart drivers. Customers are different and their smarts are therefore also configured to their individual needs."

One of the main pillars of the smart brand - zest for life - is also expressed in the high proportion of smart Cabrios (22 percent). Philipp Schiemer continues "For example we still hold one of the top positions in the registration figures for cabriolets in Germany." Last year almost 25 percent of smart models had common-rail direct injection. This makes the diesel-driven smart by far the best-selling three-litre car.

2002 will mainly be characterised by the facelifted cars, which will go on sale from March. According to Andreas Renschler "It is very difficult to predict numbers for the coming year as the development of the economy is difficult to foresee from where we are today. However we are planning an increase to sales figures this year too."

A special highlight from smart is the smart crossblade in a limited edition of 1,000 cars, which will be supplied to customers in the middle of the year. The purist two-seater from MCC smart demonstrates the varied possibilities of the concept of the ultra-compact car. The smart crossblade is based on the Cabrio, but has none of the protections against wind and weather. It is aimed at customers for whom fitness and dynamism are essential attributes of leisure-time activities. The smart crossblade was presented as a show car at the Automobilsalon in Geneva last year.

The extension of smartville, the smart production facility in Hambach in France, which was started last year, will be continued in 2002: MCC smart will invest a total of around 80 million euro in this site by the end of the year, securing the jobs of around 2,000 employees (MCC France: 750, system partners: 1,250). The money invested in 2002 will mainly flow into the production of the new smart roadster, which will also be produced in smartville.

Andreas Renschler says that "The performance of the employees in Hambach is rated extremely highly. We were able to greatly increase the number of possible variations without any friction. Parallel to this the productivity was again increased by almost seven percent to an average of 159 cars per year and employee."

The coming years will be strongly characterised by the extension of the brand from one model range - the smart City-Coupé and smart Cabrio - to three model ranges. In addition to the roadster, which will go on sale from 2003, MCC smart is working on a concept for a small car together with the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, which will have its market premiere in 2004.