smart celebrates its first anniversary in Canada with 4,000 sales (October 20, 2005)
TORONTO -- In February 2004, Mercedes-Benz Canada announced at the Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS) that it would start selling two smart models in Canada by the end of the year. In early October 2004, smart was launched in Canada. A year later, in October 2005, more than 4,000 smart fortwo coupés and cabriolets have been delivered across the country. This amount is more than three times the initial planned volume.
President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada, Marcus Breitschwerdt said, “smart took the world by storm in 1998 when it was first introduced in Europe. Over the course of the next few years, the smart models caused a sensation everywhere they were launched after that. North America was the last frontier and Mercedes-Benz Canada stepped up to the challenge last year. Our astonishing success proves without any doubt that our insights were accurate but more importantly, it confirms that the Canadian market was indeed more than ready for this type of intelligent and revolutionary mobility.”
He further added, “The smart fortwo is cool and Canadians really like it. It’s interesting to note that smart has, in the last year, outsold several longer established vehicles in varied categories.”
The 2.5m smart fortwo coupés and cabriolets have been a cross-country triumph. Both models have been selling extremely well in all markets and interestingly, the 3-cylinder 799 cc, 40 hp smart with 74 lb-ft of torque has also been very well received in secondary and tertiary centres as well as rural communities. An important number of smart owners are using their vehicles for long-distance daily commutes. Many of them have expressed their overall level of satisfaction and the pleasure they are getting from their vehicle. To further make the point about outstanding fuel economy, during a recent 10-day, 6,587 km cross-Canada trip conducted by Montréal-based magazine and annual guide book, “Le Guide de l’Auto”, a smart fortwo cabriolet traveled from Victoria to Halifax at an average diesel fuel consumption of 4.02 litres/100km or $268 for the entire journey.
A difficult Canadian winter provided strong evidence as to how competent the smart’s rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, coupled with the Electronic Stability Program (esp) performs in treacherous snowy, icy and slushy conditions (naturally, snow tires are strongly recommended).
On a safety side, in their first year, several significant real-life accidents on Canadian highways have demonstrated repeatedly the impressive prowess of the tridion safety cell working in concert with the front and side airbags as well as the numerous active and passive safety systems available as standard equipment on the smart fortwo.
Unbeknownst to them, Mark and Melissa Hajek were the lucky couple to be the 4,000th smart customer. They took delivery of a 2006 smart fortwo coupé passion in the new ruby red colour at the Toronto Midtown smart centre on October 4th, 2005. To celebrate this milestone, Midtown and Mercedes-Benz Canada have offered the Hajeks a trip to Europe where they will have a chance to visit smartville factory in Hambach, France and the various Mercedes-Benz facilities in the Stuttgart, Germany area.
“We’ve had our heart set on the smart for quite some time. It’s such a cool design, and in light of rising fuel prices and the generous accolades this car has received over the last few years, we thought the smart fortwo was the right choice for us”, said Mark Hajek, Commercial and Film Editor. “This was a totally unexpected surprise for us and such a nice gesture above and beyond getting a car we really wanted in the first place”, said Melissa Hajek, a Toronto-based Print Editor. They both agreed that they bought the smart fortwo for all the right reasons and this is an opportunity for them to do “their bit for the environment.”
President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada, Marcus Breitschwerdt said, “smart took the world by storm in 1998 when it was first introduced in Europe. Over the course of the next few years, the smart models caused a sensation everywhere they were launched after that. North America was the last frontier and Mercedes-Benz Canada stepped up to the challenge last year. Our astonishing success proves without any doubt that our insights were accurate but more importantly, it confirms that the Canadian market was indeed more than ready for this type of intelligent and revolutionary mobility.”
He further added, “The smart fortwo is cool and Canadians really like it. It’s interesting to note that smart has, in the last year, outsold several longer established vehicles in varied categories.”
The 2.5m smart fortwo coupés and cabriolets have been a cross-country triumph. Both models have been selling extremely well in all markets and interestingly, the 3-cylinder 799 cc, 40 hp smart with 74 lb-ft of torque has also been very well received in secondary and tertiary centres as well as rural communities. An important number of smart owners are using their vehicles for long-distance daily commutes. Many of them have expressed their overall level of satisfaction and the pleasure they are getting from their vehicle. To further make the point about outstanding fuel economy, during a recent 10-day, 6,587 km cross-Canada trip conducted by Montréal-based magazine and annual guide book, “Le Guide de l’Auto”, a smart fortwo cabriolet traveled from Victoria to Halifax at an average diesel fuel consumption of 4.02 litres/100km or $268 for the entire journey.
A difficult Canadian winter provided strong evidence as to how competent the smart’s rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, coupled with the Electronic Stability Program (esp) performs in treacherous snowy, icy and slushy conditions (naturally, snow tires are strongly recommended).
On a safety side, in their first year, several significant real-life accidents on Canadian highways have demonstrated repeatedly the impressive prowess of the tridion safety cell working in concert with the front and side airbags as well as the numerous active and passive safety systems available as standard equipment on the smart fortwo.
Unbeknownst to them, Mark and Melissa Hajek were the lucky couple to be the 4,000th smart customer. They took delivery of a 2006 smart fortwo coupé passion in the new ruby red colour at the Toronto Midtown smart centre on October 4th, 2005. To celebrate this milestone, Midtown and Mercedes-Benz Canada have offered the Hajeks a trip to Europe where they will have a chance to visit smartville factory in Hambach, France and the various Mercedes-Benz facilities in the Stuttgart, Germany area.
“We’ve had our heart set on the smart for quite some time. It’s such a cool design, and in light of rising fuel prices and the generous accolades this car has received over the last few years, we thought the smart fortwo was the right choice for us”, said Mark Hajek, Commercial and Film Editor. “This was a totally unexpected surprise for us and such a nice gesture above and beyond getting a car we really wanted in the first place”, said Melissa Hajek, a Toronto-based Print Editor. They both agreed that they bought the smart fortwo for all the right reasons and this is an opportunity for them to do “their bit for the environment.”
