"The fact that worldwide smart sales have passed the two million mark shows the extent to which delighted customers around the world prefer our uniquely compact and unbelievably agile cars to any other car for city driving. Whether it's fitted with a combustion engine or an electric motor, whether it's a two-seater, a four-seater or a stunning cabrio – smart brings drivers plenty of joy and saves them time. For our customers smart is much more than 'just' a car," says Dr. Annette Winkler, head of smart.
A pioneering presence in the car industry from the outset
Since its market launch in 1998, the urban microcar has enjoyed tremendous success as both a private vehicle and as a fleet vehicle and, since 2008, as a tailor-made vehicle for the car sharing scheme car2go. When it comes to mobility services and options for individualisation, smart has always played a pioneering role in the car industry, constantly redefining urban mobility. At the end of 2015 smart became the world's first car manufacturer to combine an online store for new cars with a virtual showroom: customers in Italy are able to explore the smart options around the clock at
www.smartforstore.it and purchase their chosen vehicle online. The "smart ready to drop" service takes urban mobility a step further: the smart collaboration with DHL enables parcels to be delivered to the boot of your car. Beta-testing of the service began in Stuttgart on 26th of September. Tests in Cologne, Bonn and Berlin are to follow within the next few months. The service will eventually be offered in seven German cities.
smart now has a presence in 46 markets. In August 2016 the brand's sales increased by 20.8% and customers took delivery of over 7,631 vehicles. smart proved particularly popular in China last month, with sales of smart models almost treble those in same month last year. China is the third biggest sales market for smart after Germany and Italy.
