AutoLab Show Saturday July 10 - Comments on the Dealth of Nicholas Hayek Founder Swatch

Editors Note: This is a pre-production letter to Dr. Harold Wolchuk from AutoLab/TACH's London corespondent Robert Erskine, concerning his scheduled segment during this Saturday's AutoLab Show. You can hear Robert discuss Mr. Hayek's visionary automobile inventions LIVE at 8:05 AM Saturday HERE or LIVE on WMCA 570 AM Radio in New York Metropolitan Area, or archived HERE forever

Hi Harold;

For this Saturday I wish to report on the death of Nicolas Hayek saviour of the Swiss Watch industry and inventor of the Smart Car.

Whilst many obituaries and comments mention his watch empire work, and just touch on his invention of the smart Car, it is important to realise that often the best innovations in the automotive industry come from outside of the automotive box. That automotive designers are deemed too close to the trees to see fresh light is a fact well known in the industry, but kept quiet to the outside world.

Indeed Hayek was an innovator foreseeing the need for a small electric hybrid city car, well before anyone else and, providing a vehicle with detachable plastic panels in various colours that could be changed quickly depending on mood or the occasion. This was the foundation of Hayek's radical Swatch watch, detachable coloured plastic outer mouldings clipped over the body of the watch, to change the look, image, feel whenever you pleased.

With an engineering background his principles of simple design and mass production in plastics to reduce cost but maintain quality, he presented his ideas firstly to VW back in the early eighties. VW embraced the idea right up to producing prototypes. Unbeknown to Hayek VW had no intention of just sharing with an outsider the fruits of his ideas. VW wished to go it alone and with the basics of the Smart Car went onto produce a much watered down version, the VW Polo instead. Today VW is making a big noise in Europe about its Blue Evolution City car

Not wishing to concede defeat Hayek went the same week VW ditched the concept, straight to MercedesBenz, an unlikely high end premium manufacturer. How could such an imperious Euro auto producer look at a design aimed at cheap and cheerful? Simply the then board consisted of similarly enlightened individuals. Mercedes Benz wished to attract the young segment to their products, whilst capitalising on this new niche. The idea, get them interested in Smart cars, high quality fun vehicles, and they will forge an alliance with the brand and move ever upwards as they mature to more expensive cars.

Additionally there was a need by MercedesBenz to be seen to be innovative, fresh, and lively. All was not straight forward for there were detractors within the group who felt Smart was at odds with the prestige brand image.

MercedesBenz went with Smart and Hayek's vision caught on, today over a million Smarts have been sold in 36 countries, and Smart owners have created the largest car club in the world nearly 300,000 owners are club members. Today demand in Europe for Smarts is high. In the UK supply is just about keeping up with demand. New derivatives are coming on stream as are a glut of new body colours, interiors in any combination like sweets you can care to choose.

The third generation is completing development and whilst MercedesBenz may have lost out initially in profits, this is slowly turning around. Like Swatches, the product ethos is here to stay and is in evolution, capturing the attention of the younger at heart buying public as never before. Every other Euro auto manufacturer has had to follow suit with their interpretation, often poor in result.

However, it is as ever the original which is the most engaging, fun, and addictive why? Because a design and engineering approach not from within the box kicked it all off. Smart design will be around for a long time as our cities and populations increase, and the urge for persona,l fun, freedom of quality and safe transport accelerates.

And of VW what are they doing? Producing their version of Hayek's Smart of course. Called the New Up Blue Motion City Car, it follows precisely Smart's thinking. A 3 cylinder rear positioned power unit, and body to seat 3 not 2 as in the Smart. It does not have plastic non dent or marking plastic detachable panels though. But VW must be annoyed with its short sightedness.

SEE ALSO: smart Buyers Guide