Can the Smart car get back on track?
Call it a crisis of confidence.
The diminutive Smart car may be king of parallel parking spaces across the country, but its parent company is hurting in a down economy.
Smart USA has reported an astounding 40 percent annual sales drop last year of its Smart Fortwo coupe, with just 278 vehicles sold in January.
That's down from 864 in December, itself a more than 84 percent drop from the previous year's December sales of 1,776 vehicles.
Sold in the U.S. by Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, Smart cars are favored by urban dwellers who are short on space but need inexpensive four-wheeled transportation (the Fortwo coupe starts at $11,990).
Despite a trendy reputation, the tiny vehicles have been criticized for their safety in sharing the road with larger vehicles. Smart cars have also been criticized for their lackluster (for their size) fuel economy, at 36 miles per gallon -- not overwhelmingly better than the Honda Fit (28 city/35 highway) and Ford Fiesta (30 city/42 highway), which both boast more room.
The company is well-aware of its problems. It hired former Saturn executive Jill Lajdziak as its new president on January 4.
Lajdziak has said that the company won't be refreshing its product line -- which currently consists of X, X and X -- but instead taking to the streets to increase brand awareness and combat a reputation that its tiny cars are not safe.
Smart USA has only 77 "smart centers" located in 36 states.
That includes a leasing program promotionally priced at $169 per month for a 36-month lease on a Smart Fortwo Pure coupe.
The company still plans on introducing a plug-in electric Smart in the fourth quarter, but it only plans to introduce 250 of them Stateside.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com