Is the Smart Roadster coming back as an electric car?
Dirk Adelmann told Autocar that a revival of the small Smart Roadster as an electric car to expand the brand’s model range was an option. “If we do a Roadster, rest assured it will be very compact – for sure a two-seater,” he said.
In Europe, Smart currently sells the electric SUV #1 and the SUV coupe #3 – read our latest review of the model here. The larger SUV named #5 is due to follow next year. A study was shown at Auto China in April, and photos and initial data on the series version were revealed in June. Smart is also still developing an electric successor to the original Smart, the Fortwo. However, Smart says it would have to share the platform with another manufacturer to reduce costs in the small car segment.
As soon as this core range of electric models is in place, the brand could begin “to shift focus to more enthusiast-minded, low-volume propositions,” Autocar writes in the report. The big problem is that with such compact vehicles, the prices and margins are usually so low that profits (or even the break-even point) are only possible with high unit numbers – a problem that Smart already has with the Fortwo successor. Niche models for enthusiasts are very difficult to realise economically, especially in the small and compact car segment.
Smart knows this. With a production time of only three years, the first-generation Smart Roadster was not a commercial success. The high prices, minimal discounts, and an unconvincing drive system led to low demand. By the end of production at the beginning of November 2005, 43,000 units had been built, around 11,000 of which had yet to be sold.
That Adelmann is nevertheless so open to the idea of a new Roadster edition is probably because of his “very emotional relationship with that vehicle,” as he puts it – a Smart Roadster was once his first company car.
1 Comment