Earth Equity News

Daimler's Smart Car Hits Cruising Speed. By Jack Ewing, Business Week, August 19, 2008. "For most of its 10-year history, Daimler's Smart car division has had a reputation for making small cars that lose big money. In 2005 and 2006, Stuttgart-based Daimler recorded more than $3 billion in restructuring costs for the division… Turns out the Smart may simply have been ahead of its time. Suddenly, Smart sales are soaring, even in the U.S., where the brand has been available since January. Smart USA has sold more than 14,000 cars in the U.S. -- about double what Daimler expected -- and there is a yearlong waiting list. Worldwide, Smart sales are up 57% this year, to 81,300 vehicles… Gas prices only provide a partial explanation… True, the Smart, with a three-cylinder engine and colorful plastic body panels, gets great mileage. At 41 mpg on the highway, [it's] the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid… on American roads."