Second-Generation Smart Fortwo Selling Like Hotcakes

I recently had a chance to drive a Smart in Atlanta, Ga and I must say I was disappointed. according to fueleconomy.gov the smart coupe gets a combined 36 mpg, while my 2007 mini cooper s gets a combined 29 mpg. The Smart is a smaller car and is geared towards conservation as opposed to performance. To me a 7 mpg difference is complete crap for a comparison of what you are getting in terms of size and speed.

Am I wrong in thinking that car companies should be able to pump out cars for conservation that get much better gas mileages then what is currently offered? This was part of the reason I choose to buy the 07 cooper S. I love my car, but would trade it in a heart beat for a car that made up for the fun factor by getting excellent gas mileage. The only car I've seen that WILL do this is the VW Polo, if it ever comes to America!!!

36mpg combined isn't absolutely fantastic, but it is a 24% increase over your Cooper S. Stated like that, 24% is fairly impressive. It could be better, but the Smart is doing an excellent job of doing several things.
1) it's extremely safe for a small car. Most other cars of comparable size are not nearly as structurally sound.
2) It fits most people while being able to park sideways in a parking space. That makes it relatively tall which means large frontal area, which increases wind resistance.
3) It's a "nice" car. It's not a luxo-barge, but it is comfortable and doesn't give up alot of the creature comforts people look for in a new car.
4) It's inexpensive. It's not the cheapest car out there, but fits in well below average for new cars in the US.
5) It's still a 24% increase in fuel economy over a Cooper S!

Yeah, it's not the best fuel economy, but it will actually sell to people who are concerned about the above 4 points, which is alot more people than those who are willing to give up everything in order to get 50mpg on gasoline.

36mpg combined isn't absolutely fantastic, but it is a 24% increase over your Cooper S. Stated like that, 24% is fairly impressive. It could be better, but the Smart is doing an excellent job of doing several things.
1) it's extremely safe for a small car. Most other cars of comparable size are not nearly as structurally sound.
2) It fits most people while being able to park sideways in a parking space. That makes it relatively tall which means large frontal area, which increases wind resistance.
3) It's a "nice" car. It's not a luxo-barge, but it is comfortable and doesn't give up alot of the creature comforts people look for in a new car.
4) It's inexpensive. It's not the cheapest car out there, but fits in well below average for new cars in the US.
5) It's still a 24% increase in fuel economy over a Cooper S!

Yeah, it's not the best fuel economy, but it will actually sell to people who are concerned about the above 4 points, which is alot more people than those who are willing to give up everything in order to get 50mpg on gasoline.

The US gasoline version of the smart is definitely doing worse than the European version (not to mention that you can't get the diesel, afaik). Not sure why. Maybe they tuned the engine differently, or added lots of weight because of regulations...

They annoyingly switched to gas from diesel here in canada too. The old smart used to get 72mpg of diesel on the highway, 60 city.

smarts are awesome city cars and i encourage all commuters to try one. they really put a smile on your face.

The biggest point of my post is that I think car companies can do much better, especially a car company like Mercedes!

Here in Canada - the Smart ForTwo and the Toyota Prius can cost the same price.

Depending on your province, and depending on your province you get more benefits with the Prius.

Yet the Smart, or even the Cooper (that costs more than a Prius) seem more popular.

Weird.

SMART= not so smart. I was disspointed too driving the SMART and opted not to buy one...especially when the disel version wasn't available. Why not make this at least a hybrid?

II'm just enough of a conspiracy believer to think they don't want the smart car to do as well in the U.S. as they do abroad.

Otherwise, like the guy said, why not make an electric/hybrid version available?

The US market is crying for fuel efficient, cleaner cars.

"II'm just enough of a conspiracy believer to think they don't want the smart car to do as well in the U.S. as they do abroad."

You're assuming that Smart does well abroad. Smart has never made a profit. It has lost money since day and things aren't looking up. One of the reasons the fortwo sales have risen so much in the last year is that sales of the Smart line were so bad that they had to eliminate two of their three models - the forfour and roadster. Since the fortwo is now the only option buyers have, sales are up for that model, however Smart's sales continue to drop overall.

Yes I really wanted to get a Smart car but the MPG was really disappointing. I mean if cars actually only burn 1% of their fuel to transport the driver and they reduce the size (and I'm guessing the mass) of the car by a factor of 2 it seem like it should be trivial to double the fuel efficiency??? Really aren't they are still back in Model T era efficiency domains? (Sorry Smart, I really don't want to be kicking you guys).

Just think, if these puppies are apparently flying off the shelves how would they be selling if they were diesel hybrids getting 80+ mpg? This would the kind of transition we saw going from the old hybrid generation to the second generation Prius generation.

I wonder why the car companies cannot achieve the same MPG as the GeoMetros of the mid 90's. I own a 1996 3 cyl geo metro, carbureted, mannual tranny and can get bet low 40s in the city to mid50 mpgs in the freeway. At about 80hp, freeway speeds are bet 65 and 70mph without trashing the engine. But at such mileage, I smile everytime i pass the gas station.

Just imagine had they made such engine fuel injected and maybe with ligher carbon fiber body panels.