The smart fortwo ceased production on 28 March, but that's not necessarily the end of it. The manufacturer, now a 50-50 joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and the Chinese group Geely, is developing a new platform and looking for partners with whom to share the costs of manufacturing the production car, which would still offer two seats and be electric.
This is according to Dirk Adelman, CEO of smart Europe, who, as Automotive News Europe reports, admitted that work on the new platform began two months ago.
It is called Electric Compact Architecture.
The new fourth-generation smart fortwo would use the Electric Compact Architecture, a new platform that is still in its infancy. The resulting car would measure between 2.7 and 2.8 metres in length, be electric, have a "decent" range (as Adelman puts it) and be capable of achieving four or five stars in Euro NCAP crash tests.
Gallery: smart EQ fortwo test
It would also have to comply with the latest European ADAS standards, such as functions 1 and 3. Such a platform "unfortunately does not yet exist", said the CEO, who admitted that he had presented the project to several European carmakers, including Renault, as well as to numerous Chinese parts manufacturers and certain contract manufacturers. Having not yet found a solution, smart has meanwhile started work on the project on its own.
Is the issue still relevant?
The first smart fortwo arrived in 1998, followed by a second generation in 2006 and a third in 2014. In its heyday, the combustion-powered fortwo sold 140,000 units a year, with the biggest markets in Southern Europe and a record in the city of Rome.
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Then, after switching to electric, it disappeared from the scene, making way for the #1 and #3. "We would like to make this car not only from my point of view, but if you ask our customers, if you ask our dealers, they would all like to have a future two-seater in the range," said Adelmann, recalling that today in Europe the only two-seaters are the Citroën Ami and its Fiat and Opel sisters or microcars like the Microlino (classified as quadricycles). Keep following us to stay informed and discover the next adventures of the smart fortwo
Gallery: smart EQ fortwo test