Smart News

The Koreans starred, the Japanese mounted a comeback, and One Ford hit the headlines with an extended family of Focus-based newcomers that it is certain to make a big hit in Australia. But it was one car and the commitment of its company chief that made the most impact as America fought back on the opening day of the 2011 North American International Motor Show.After all, last April 1, BMW circulated information about a pick-up. Well, this isn't April and this is no April Fool's Day joke; Smart is launching an urban pick-up called the "for-us". Smart boss Annette Winkler described it at the Detroit motor show as "the perfect pick-up for the city". The awkward two-seater features a tray in the rear that fits two bicycles and the show car had a Smart ebike in the back which is an electric bike. The 55kW/130Nm three-cylinder engine has been made in a joint venture with Mitsubishi. Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy says "it's not for us", but suggests there are some new four-seater products being developed with Nissan and Renault that would be "much more suitable".They are not expected until 2014. "We continue to support Smart because people love it," "We're maintaining our interest in the brand to take it out of the hands of the grey importers. "We're also investigating bringing in the second generation of the electric Smart, but only in small numbers; half a dozen or so just to trial."

A car that flies and climbs skyscraper walls. And it can drive too. It’s the winner of an annual design contest that has been trying to find Hollywood’s Next Hottest Movie Car. Car companies around the world competed in the Design Challenge as part of the recent LA Auto Show, and micro-car maker Smart took the gong with 341 Parkour urban vehicle -- a car designed for a hypothetical movie the Daimler-owned company called Annie Gets the Grannies. We can only ponder at the vision behind that, but it promises to have the potential for plenty of action as the vehicle features driving, flying, and climbing modes, using vacuum cups and retractable wheels to scale walls and take flight. This year’s winning Smart vehicle followed their granny thread of last year, with the 2010 car they proposed would be knitted from carbon fibre by robot grannies – which sounds like a horror movie – so that “the knitting can create complex shapes and forms, enabling the geometry to be optimized in strength and weight”. But there was some strong rivalry for first prize, from the design studios of American, European and Japanese car makers.  Honda designers imagined a dystopian future High Noon where scientists create a vehicle based on the remaining DNA of a legendary creature once known as a horse. This is evolved into a vehicle called the IH, which “uses the efficient, lightweight, strong, and functional characteristics of bones for its inspiration. The IH vehicle combines both the character and simplicity of a horse with the latest structural, safety and technological innovation”. Hyundai followed the current vampire fad, with two vehicles designed for the Countess of Siberia -- born in Moscow in 1829 of vampire parents, and with superhuman senses. The Countess Elena is fitted out by Hyundai to help in her war against communism around the globe: the Hyundai Stratus Sprinter multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) and the DB Atlant Airship that serves as her home base and MPV carrier. “The MPV can travel any road due to its high ground clearance and has light combat capabilities. The Airship stays afloat and hidden high in the sky to avoid detection. Both vehicles have a magical stealth force that renders them invisible during daylight, only to reappear after dark”. Maybach reinvented Cinderalla as a “Berline Carriage Engineer who spends all her days working at her father's workshop, while her wicked stepmother and stepsister party. “On the night of her birthday, Cindy's father surprises her with a beautiful dress and allows her to take a new Maybach prototype out on the town -- a reinterpretation of the historic Berline Carriage. The Carriage is teleoperated via a satellite link to a Maybach Virtual Chauffeur Centre. This leaves maximum interior space for the passengers and also allows maximum privacy. A large glass screen with 3D laser projection is suspended from the ceiling and can display the Virtual Chauffeur or a variety of media and entertainment.” Mercedes-Benz’s Silver Arrow racecar was the central player in a proposed movie where two enlightened crash test mannequins, Hans05 and Franz02, battle against the evil Dr. Crash-Barrier’s reign of terror and mayhem. The two heroes take action to save their beloved Silver Arrow  -- a long-slung, sculpture on hooped wheels, with body lines that recall  Formula 1 cars and a diagonally configured, hub-less roller track for 'Omni-Directional' driving. Subaru looked far into the future -- 200 years after the rotation of the Earth has stopped, and the planet split into two, distinctly different hemispheres, the Daysphere and the Nightsphere. Humans have been living in a highly developed civilization in the Nightsphere, away from the sun's harmful electromagnetic waves. They have electricity sourced from an innovative energy plant but the fuel, a rare crystallized mineral, is running out. A team sets out to find it in the Daysphere -- a place from which no human has ever come back alive – travelling in the Ultra Subaru HORIZON designed to withstand the strong electromagnetic field, chemical imbalances, scorching heat, and raging storms of the Daysphere. The Design Challenge has been running for eight years, with the annual theme set by a board of design studio execs and the world’s top car design studios invited to take part. The panel includes Pixar Animation Studio art director Jay Shuster, Academy of Art University director of industrial designTom Matano, and Detroit College for Creative Studies chair of transport design Mark West.  

Just drive in and park – and you’ve got charge. Or slot into a special carpark on the street and do the same thing.Similar to the inductive charging plates you can get for mobile phones – and the inductive technology used by your electric toothbrush as well – cordless charging is probing into the car world.A trial project has been started in Berlin, with German carmakers Audi, BMW, Daimler, Opel and VW lining up to give their electric vehicles a shot. The real-world trial is being backed by the German government, and will start in March 2012 with a family of four living in an induction-equipped house.Over the 15 months they’re in residence, they’ll get to drive cars from the German brands, with the first car onto the rank being a Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-CELL modified with a special charging coil that allows an induction charging option.The A-Class E-CELL will be parked over a charging coil in the carport floor, automatically activating charging via an electromagnetic field. The A-Class will still be able to be charged via the house’s domestic power outlet and public charging stations.Lining up behind the A-Claass – and from the same Daimler stable - are a Smart Fortwo and a Smart ebike electric bicycle, all of which will be evaluated to see how well the technology fits into everyday family life. At least, if you’re an everyday family living in a one-off science lab project.

The snow-capped start to the car year is traditionally a showcase for a wide range of concept cars and Lexus and Smart have gone early with teaser details on their contenders.The Lexus is a new sporty model that takes its inspiration from the company's LFA supercar and the Smart is a baby ute that pokes fun at the reinvention of the ForTwo.The two companies will not be alone in Motown next month, with Nissan planning a preview of its Pathfinder, Honda likely to show another NSX supercar concept and a tease for its next Accord, and Chrysler Jeep intending to make a splash with a couple of futuristic show cars.Lexus is not revealing much about its new car, although it has released teaser pictures of the nose and cabin and plans to also go public with a name before the car is unveiled on Monday, January 9.But the 19-inch alloy wheels and deep front airdam point to something that's more like the LFA than another CT200-style hybrid, and it shares the Darth Vader-style 'thimble' grille treatment already applied to the new Lexus GS."It's a concept car. it's not an update of an existing model," confirms Peter Evans of Lexus Australia.But he is keen to keep a distance between the Lexus concept and Toyota's new sports car hero."It has no commonality, nor does it have anything in common with, the Toyota 86," says Evans.There is definite production potential in the Detroit display car but, typically, it will take a people-power movement to convince Lexus executives in Japan to move it beyond a tasty piece of tinsel."The picture will get clearer over the next couple of weeks," Evans says.Apart from the concept, Lexus is also expected to show a revamped LX four-wheel drive. The heavyweight SUV, which is a tweaked Toyota LandCruiser, was originally expected at the Dubai motor show last month but its place was taken by the Toyota 86 at the last minute.Over at Smart, the baby ute is called the Smart-for-us and is deliberately poking fun at the over-complication of cars in the 21st century."This is to give people a flavour of what's possible at Smart. It's to keep people interested in the brand," says Smart's Australian spokesman, David McCarthy."I wouldn't be betting on a ute, but there will be some other design cues there for people to check.The rollout for the new ForTwo has already run through the Forvision concept and the Detroit-mobile shares the same battery power pack and electric engine.The concept is wider and longer than the ForTwo to emphasise the compact proportions, as well as making space for a tray back that can carry a couple of bicycles. In some ways it's closer in size to a potential replacement for the underachieving ForFour than the baby ForTwo."We at smart love pick-ups – if they are small on the outside, large on the inside, very safe and extremely comfortable," says the CEO of Smart, Annette Winkler.

Smart, the company that produces tiny For Two city car is toying with the idea of building a modern day version of the iconic Suzuki ute.The eco-friendly arm of Mercedes-Benz has released sketches of a concept ute it intends to reveal at next month's Detroit Motor Show. Smart says its special concept vehicle, dubbed the For Us, challenges the idea of what an urban `pick-up' should look like.It certainly is smaller than any other ute available in the US, measuring just 3547mm from nose to tail. The For Us is 1506mm tall and 1701mm wide.Smart says it is the compact nature of the For Us and especially its narrow width that would enable it to reach destinations that out of bounds for cars including "isolated park trails". It would also be able to drive into areas that could ban vehicles with regular combustion engine, such as the centres of some large cities, because the For Us is powered by an electric motor.Using a similar set-up to the For Two Electric Drive, which is due to be launched early next year, the For Us concept uses a 55kW motor with 130Nm of torque fed by a lithium-ion battery with a 17.6kWh capacity.Smart says the For Us shouldn't have any trouble keeping up on highways as it would have a top speed of 120km/h. Don't expect to get too much in the tray because it is less than 1 metre long (900mm). However, the Smart's electronically operated tailgate does slide down out of the way so long items can be placed on the bed.The two-seat cabin is futuristic, with a smart phone cradle replacing the rear-view mirror. A rear-mounted camera captures what is happening the vehicle and the footage is shown on the phone's display.The Smart ute sits up higher off the ground compared to For Two hatch and has a slightly masculine design theme. Smart adds that the concept car has a "friendly but assertive" face. There is no word on whether the For Us could end up in production or whether it is simply a fun design study.

The baby B-Class is already public and the runout of a whole range of small cars continues early next year. Mercedes is starring an electric teaser for the next Smart ForTwo at the Tokyo Motor Show that has the colour and movement intended to win Japanese buyers to the brand.But there is much more to come in 2012 and the design director at Mercedes-Benz, Gordon Wagener, is blunt in his assessment of the company's earlier work."We will have the Coupe at the Geneva Motor Show," Wagener tells Carsguide at the Tokyo Motor Show."There will eventually be five cars. Or more ... "These will be youthful. Particularly the coupe. It's based on the new B-Class platform."But Wagener is no fan of the outgoing A and B-Class cars and their boxy styling. "These were old man's cars. They damaged the reputation of our brand."The new coupe is expected to be called the CLC and will be presented alongside a rounded five-door A-Class that is a world away from the outgoing model.Wagener says the arrival of the new B-Class family also opens the way for AMG hotrod versions of the cars, which were previously excluded from the work of the performance division. And he promises cleaner design on the go-fast models."We now have total control of all AMG design. It is now fully integrated," he says. "It's about the detailing. There is more we can do. Some of the stuff in the past has not been particularly elegant."

The most likely site of the preview is the Paris Motor Show in the final quarter of 2012, based on strong sales in crowded European capital cities.

The new Smart ForTwo is expected to be more rounded than the current model, which has always looked like a telephone box with wheels.

Late last year they wowed the 2010 Australian International Motor Show crowd with the Jaffa – a bright orange C63 AMG. This year they’ve rolled out the attention-getting livery again. On a Smart Fortwo. Christened the Jaffette – of course -- the juicy limited edition is being offered with a ‘night orange’ pack that includes sports steering wheel and gear shift know in black nappa leather, matt-finish and black accents and orange stitching and trim strips. The package has a total value of $4800 but adds only $2800 to the normal price $19,990 of the Fortwo mhd (micro-hybrid drive), making a RRP of $22,790. The little city car’s stop-start mhd system makes it one of the lowest emission petrol vehicles for sale in Australia with a C02 rating of 100g/km and a combined fuel consumption of 4.4L/100km). Mercedes-Benz sees the car as a close relation to Jaffa, and has ordered in a crate of 15. “ We got a fantastic response to our bright orange C63 AMG known as “Jaffa” last year at AIMS,” managing director Horst von Sanden says. “Whilst the ‘night orange’ smart fortwo has significantly less power than the “Jaffa” it has 100% of its street presence. It was a no-brainer for us to order 15 for Australia. It is truly a sibling of Jaffa.”

Then we head north in a Holden Cruze and Mitsubishi ASX, looking to see how far this pair can go on a single take of fuel.  Ed Ordynski is in the ASX and I have the Cruze, holding  the trip computer just over 6 litres/100km as Ordynski - expert driver - is below 5 litres/100km.The first stop is just outside Port Pirie after 250 kilometres and the figures are 5.3 and 4.2, as we battle wind and rain.  A lunch stop in Waikerie - about 530km into the journey - and then a turn south to follow the Murray both cars maintain sub-6 readings - the ASX in the region of 4.5 and the Cruze 5.5 litres per 100km as we pass the 700km mark near Murray Bridge.The weather worsens as we follow the river south through 730km at Wellington."The ASX was more adversely affected by that, it was 0.3 litres/100km worse off - we did what you need to do into a headwind and that was reduce the speed a little," Ordynski says.Running down through the southern foothills to complete our 1000km journey we return the tanks to full. There are still 15 litres in the Mitsubishi's 60-litre tank, but my Cruze is almost on fumes.  But after thirteen hours of "real-world" driving we have hit our 1000-kilometre target."I would drive like that with people on board and not be embarrassed," Ordynski says.  "You win on fuel use and emissions as well, with 2kg of CO2 for every litre of fuel, you win on maintenance and longevity of the vehicle by driving it kindly as well, it's hard to see a downside."Ed Ordynski’s Fuel TipsLevel 1. Overall factors1. Plan when you need to use your car to avoid unnecessary journeys.2. Plan your journey to avoid peak hour and congested roads.3. Measure your fuel consumption and take pride in reducing it.4. Choose an energy efficient vehicle.Level 2. Anyone can try1. Concentrate on driving smoothly and anticipate traffic flow to conserve momentum.2. Keep tyre pressures at maximum recommended.3. Avoid any excess weight in the vehicle and remove accessories which affect the aerodynamics (e.g. roof racks).4. Choose a manual transmission and learn to drive it properly for optimum fuel efficiency.Level 3. Hard-core methods1. Avoid use of airconditioning and keep windows closed.2. Do not use cruise control but do focus on keeping a constant speed and conserving momentum.3. Drive at low speed - most cars are at their most efficient at around 75km/h in top gear.4. Drive off as soon as the engine is started, especially from a cold start.GREEN STARSMake-model weight price combined fuel con1. Mitsubishi -MiEV 980kg $leased 02. Toyota Prius 1370kg $39,990 3.93. Smart Fortwo 750kg $19,9904.44. Honda Insight 1205kg $29,9904.65. Suzuki Alto 880kg $11,790 4.8GREEN DUDS1. Ferrari 599 1690kg $677,250 21.32. Ferrari 612 1849kg $698,000 20.73. Nissan Patrol 4.8 2440kg $75,690 17.24. Maserati GT S Coupe 1880kg $345,900 16.65. Mercedes ML 500 2148kg $132,400 16.5