case study - smart car
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|the smart car |

The smart car ( Swatch Mercedes Art ) is the brainchild of Nicolas Hayek, perhaps better known as CEO of Swatch, the watch company. Hayek's dream was the Swatchmobile, which would do for the small car what he had done for the watch, producing a car that would be fun, cheap and simple yet environmentally sound, with electric or hybrid power.
Hayek initially teamed with Volkswagen in 1991, but the project was cancelled with adverse market research and a change of management at VW. Mercedes then stepped in as a partner and Micro Compact Car (MCC) was formed in 1994 as a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and SMH (the maker of Swatch watches). In 1998, Swatch pulled out and MCC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, now DaimlerChrysler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz.
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|Fancy a makeover? Body panels can be easily changed |

The smart car launched in October 1998 is a 2-seater, 2.5m long by 1.5m wide - small enough that two or even three cars can squeeze into a standard parking space. The incorporation of the hybrid SwatchMobil system had proved problematic, so the car debuted with a conventional engine. It was also not as inexpensive as originally conceived, priced on a par with small 4-seaters.
Initial reception was lukewarm, and sales were well down on prediction (20,000 were sold in 1998 in contrast to the 200,000 predicted by Hayek) but it was a great success in traffic-strangled cities like Paris and Rome, and sales reached 80,000 the following year. The project, constantly at risk, has been expensive, with breakeven forecast for 2004. Nonetheless, it has achieved iconic status, with an exhibit at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art).
The smart car is built at a factory complex called smartville, located at Hambach in Lorraine, France. Completed in October