No plans for diesel version of Smart car in U.S.

[atlaw4u]

70 of Smart's planned 74 dealerships in the U.S. have opened and the remaining will be operational later this year.

Ken Thomas - AP - April 16, 2008

Smart USA has no plans to offer a diesel-powered version of its Fortwo micro car in the United States, the division's president said Wednesday.

Dave Schembri of Smart USA said the gasoline alternative has not been in its plans because strict regulations in the U.S. would make it difficult to sell a diesel car in all 50 states.

"We tried to get the right mix between performance and fuel economy and the diesel engine doesn't provide the kind of performance, I think, that would meet the expectations of the U.S. consumer," Schembri said at a luncheon of the Washington Automotive Press Association.

Smart is currently developing a gas-electric hybrid vehicle and testing electric vehicles in London that could be available in the fleet within the next three years, he said.

Smart, a division of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand, began selling the 8-foot, 8-inch cars in the U.S. in January. The 1,800-pound car gets 33 miles per gallon in the city and 41 miles per gallon on the highway.

Schembri said Smart has received more than 30,000 reservations for the vehicle, with customers putting down $99 to reserve a car. The company has not released production numbers for the year.

He said the average wait for a Fortwo is about a year, although the amount of time can vary depending on the region of the country. When someone reserves a vehicle online, they can check the Smart Web site 24 hours later to receive an estimate of when the car will be delivered.

"We're doing the best we can to meet demand, however, quality is far more important than quantity," he said.

Seventy of Smart's planned 74 dealerships in the U.S. have opened and the remaining dealerships will be operational later this year, Schembri said… [Read More]

[brick]

Give it a few more years. Priorities are changing.

[xcel]

Hi All:

___Just a tidbit on why … The CDI variant is currently equipped with an older technology .8L diesel with just 45HP and a 0 - 60 time of ~ 19.5 seconds. If MB were to outfit the Smart ForTwo CDI with the latest Common rail and injection pressures, 5-event piezo-electric injectors, updated EGR and a third gen turbo, the 0 – 60 times would be cut almost in half and FE would actually go up from its current 71 mpgUS on the Euro devised NEDC. Does the current CDI’s performance suffice? For most it would but at almost 20 seconds, it is a bit on the slow side compared to something like an Insight of similar FE and utility at 10.5 seconds to do the same dance.

___Emissions wise, there is a problem given Tier II/Bin 5 on something with a base price under $13K probably costs $2,500 + all by itself

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[Vooch]

The Smart Dealership next to the Lincoln Tunnel has a host of Smarts which are well displayed. I've seen a couple ( 2-4) driving the City so far

[Chuck]

Am I the only one that thinks Honda might do better with a clean diesel Kei car?

[hobbit]

The sooner we learn that 0-60 in 20 is just fine, the better...
.
... listening to the distant sounds of "rods" enjoying the
highway a half-mile away or so...
.
_H*

[desdemona]

Originally Posted by Delta Flyer

Am I the only one that thinks Honda might do better with a clean diesel Kei car?

No! I think Honda could potentially do better in design against almost anybody. Of course, will and can is another story.

--des

[deezle]

Even the previous generation smart diesel (mine) had common-rail injection, though the current generation has even higher pressure. There's a decent little autoblog article about the current diesel here.
I suspect that the diesel smart will reappear in North America in a couple of years with a 50 state compliant blu-tec version. Right now the factory can't keep up with orders anyway, so there's likely not much motivation to introduce the diesel to the U.S. (where diesel fuel in inexplicably priced higher than gasoline).

[Right Lane Cruiser]

The argument I've heard in the past is that the technology needed to clean up the engine enough would price the car out of the market. I don't know how much truth there is to that but I can tell you that I'm definitely not the only one disappointed by this.

[warthog1984]

Originally Posted by hobbit

The sooner we learn that 0-60 in 20 is just fine, the better...

I'd never buy a car with a 20s 0-60.

Why? Traffic. A 20s 0-60 means that it'll take 10s or more to do 0-30 if you floor it. 20s or more if not absolutely WOT. When merging or puling into heavy traffic, that's asking for an accident.

10s is my practical limit for a decent acceleration in heavy traffic. After 30mph, acceleration isn't as much of an issue because you're no longer standing still in a shooting gallery.