smart sales in the USA

[Mike T]

Here are the sales data for smart in the USA to date:

Month: monthly sales / total to date
Jan: 641 / 641
Feb: 1101 / 1742
Mar: 1734 / 3476
Apr: 2683 / 6159
May: 2695 / 8854
June: 2545 / 11,399
July: 2558 / 13,958
Aug: 2420 / 16,378
Sept: 1778 / 18,156
Oct: 2236 / 20,392

The sales are bucking the trend in the US car market generally. The volumes are of course very small, as it is admittedly a niche product.

[xcel]

Hi Mike:

___For a more comprehensive view, have you seen the Monthly Fuel Efficient Vehicle Sales Figures updates?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[Harold]

When the Diesel comes back it should take off again. Its a great little car with the diesel!H

[Mike T]

Frankly, the diesel is as expensive to run as the gasoline version, due to the differential in fuel pricing between diesel and premium unleaded, and the twice-as-frequent servicing in the case of the diesel.

I like mine a lot but I am not under the illusion that it is a lot cheaper to run, being nearly 4 years and 105,000 km into the ownership period.

[Harold]

Mike T .Thanks for setting me straight! That is hard to believe! Are you using synthetic oil to cut down on oil changes etc.? What else would be high maimtenance? H

[Mike T]

The basic servicing interval for the diesel is 8000 km, which the car adjusts upwards to 10,000 or slightly more if you drive gently and on longer trips.

The basic servicing interval for the gasoline car is 15,000 km, which again is adjusted upwards according to driving style, as I understand it.

Both cars require synthetic oil. Typical servicing costs at a M-B dealer alternate between $150 and $250 every second service, with the diesel being slightly more at every fourth service due to its massive water separator filter.

As soon as mine was out of warranty, I began to service it myself. If you did your own servicing all the time, the difference in running costs would be minimised somewhat and the overall running costs would favour the diesel. Repair costs? It's hard to say. The diesel seems to be reliable but turbos and related hardware are something the gasser does not have.

[Harold]

M-B has always been high maint! I guess the water separators are the throw away type on top of it. I had a old Nissan pick-up that allowed you to dump the water and re-install the filter. I guess those days are gone! H

[Mike T]

It's a canister that can be had for $56 without the water detector, or $140 with it....and it's a messy job to re and re it.

[seftonm]

Originally Posted by Mike T

It's a canister that can be had for $56 without the water detector, or $140 with it....and it's a messy job to re and re it.

Wow that's expensive. My fuel filter with water separator runs me about $50 CAD. I wonder if the new CDI has similar service intervals to the new gas fortwo? With VW's, it seems that the service intervals between the TDI's and gas versions is about the same if they are the same model year.

[fitmpg]

If gasoline drops to much under 2.00 per gallon, those Dodge Magnum/Hemi behemoths will haul you around in their pick-up beds for nothing. They're grinning from ear to ear right now folks.