The actual question is what MB was thinking when it decided to buy out its design and marketing partner whose idea the concept was and who decided to pull out...
Note that it was never meant to be sold as an MB/DC brand. Totally separate logo and sales organisation. Smart sections are now popping up in Merc showrooms probably because the car is losing money hand-over-fist so it's a cost-cutting measure, maybe tinged with the hope that the 'star glamour' will rub off onto the Smart.
You may mock but the idea is not so bad, given that it is supposed to be urban transport in crowded cities as a second or third car. With readily interchangeable body panels the idea was to have a funky fashion item, like a Swatch with interchangeable bezels. Having a motoring giant like MB behind it would give sufficient marketing clout. (And the thought occurs: where do you park your third car in a crowded city?)
Trouble is, there aren't enough urban dwellers who are that fashionable... and other small cars like the Yaris, while not being as radical, are much more practical for a similar price. Thus an urbanite could get away with just the one car instead of the Smart +1 or +2 cars. As it happens once of my neighbours in central London has a whole range of transport vehicles:
- Smart (top-dollar Brabus version)
- Whacking great big Range Rover
- motorised two-wheeler (Vespa)
- pushbike.
And I think that Merc is diluting management time on too many niche products.
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling