Death in North America: Smart

Smart, the small car brand that first used European roads before coming here to the United States, has had some odd years. And now, after the frantic sales, it seems that the brand is leaving our shores forever.

After the 2019 model year, Smart EQ Fortwo models will be phased out, according to TechCrunch, citing two anonymous sources of Daimler AG.

Daimler's confirmation on this point reads as follows:

"After a thorough review, smart will abandon its smart EQ fortwo electric battery model in the US and Canadian markets at the end of the fiscal year 2020. A number of factors, including the market decline micro-cars in the United States and Canada, coupled with high certification costs for a low-volume model, are at the heart of this decision. "

Current Smart owners in the US and Canada will not be left behind. The point of sale indicates that Mercedes-Benz will continue to provide access to service and spare parts.

Of course, this is not the end of Smart, but the end of Smart in North America. In March, we learned that Chinese conglomerate Geely (which also owns Volvo and Lotus) has entered into a joint venture with Daimler to turn Smart into a Chinese-built electric car brand. Mercedes will help stylize the new Smart cars, while Geely will be responsible for engineering.

In 2018, Smart announced that it would switch to all-electric worldwide and that all Smart models sold in North America would be exclusively EV equipped. Gasoline Smarts ceased to be sold after the 2017 model year.

Really, is it any wonder that Smart is pulling out of the US market? With our insatiable thirst for big cars, it's no wonder that such a small car is struggling to gain popularity.

Here, Smart sold only 83 cars last January, 58 in February and 90 in March, according to CarSalesbase, which also notes that some of the sales were attributed to Car2Go, Daimler's carpool program . It seems that the numbers have really gone down after the cars have switched to electricity.

So, if you had the idea to buy a Smart, act now or hold your life forever.

We have contacted Mercedes to share her comments and we will keep you informed if we have news.