BRESCIA, Italy -- Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche believes the all-new Smart ForFour minicar will be commercially successful and should help the money-losing brand make its first profit.
“The new ForFour is an extended ForTwo and has all the characteristics of the new ForTwo. These include a wider interior relative to the length of the car, a rear-mounted engine and several very smart ideas of benefit to customers. So the new vehicle has all the genes of a Smart,” Zetsche said after a media event here.
There are no current plans to bring the vehicle to the United States.
In a separate interview Annette Winkler, who heads the Smart brand, referred to the ForFour as “the station wagon version of the ForTwo.”
Launched in 1997, the Smart ForTwo quickly created a niche for itself as the only two-seat microcar, commanding premium prices in the process.
The original ForFour was not as successful. Launched in 2004, the ForFour competed in the ultra-competitive subcompact segment. Production of the ForFour, which was only available in Europe, ceased in June 2006 with just 133,000 sold.
The new ForFour has been developed with Renault and shares many parts with the French automaker’s new third-generation Twingo. The ForFour and Twingo will both be made on the same platform at Renault's plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.
