The car brand Smart, founded in 1997, is now also regretting its plan to build only electric cars. The brand recognizes that customers are demanding the gasoline car.
The automotive industry is constantly evolving. But now Smart, which is partly owned by Mercedes, has changed both its name and strategy when it comes to electric cars.
The brand had plans to build exclusively electric cars, but is now launching a plug-in hybrid with a gasoline engine.
The decision to introduce a hybrid SUV comes after a desire for increased range from Chinese drivers in particular. Smart wants to meet these needs and remains open to different technologies, it says now.
"It is important to respond to customers' increasingly varied demands and wishes," the car brand said in a press release.
– Smart cannot rule out any technical solution for the future, but must be responsive, the brand complements itself.
The new SUV, #5, will therefore be equipped with a 1.5-liter gasoline engine to complement the electric powertrain. The electric range is expected to be around 350 kilometers, while the range with the gasoline engine switched on is over 800 kilometers.
This is what Autocar writes.
Smart, originally a collaboration between Volkswagen and Swatch, has been owned by Mercedes and Geely in a so-called joint venture since 2019. The technology in the new hybrid SUV is taken from Geely's Galaxy 7 EM-i.
The #5 marks a shift for Smart, which has previously focused on small city cars. A fully electric version of the #5 is scheduled to launch in Europe in 2025, with two engine variants of 335 and 416 horsepower respectively. The plug-in hybrid is not expected until 2026.
Weighing in at 1.7 tonnes, the #5 is the largest car Smart has ever produced. The first Smart Fortwo from 1998 weighed less than half that.
– We see individual mobility powered by combustion engines and in particular with hybrid drives as a transitional technology towards pure electric driving, says Smart.
Smart's production history has also changed. The original factory in Hambach, France, has been sold to Ineos, which produces the Grenadier and Quartermaster.
Ineos, which was forced to halt its assembly lines last year due to financial problems at cabin supplier Recaro Automotive. However, Recaro was rescued by an Italian investor, and Ineos has now resumed production.
