06-27-2006, 05:13 AM
Smart Microcar Slated for U.S. Intro
The Daily Auto Insider
Monday, June 26, 2006
June 2006
DaimlerChrysler plans to launch the miniscule Smart car in the U.S. in 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported.
With high gas prices spurring sales of small cars in the U.S, DaimlerChrysler hopes to turn around its unprofitable small-car unit, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter said.
Making the Smart car business profitable has been a priority for DaimlerChrysler's Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche since he took the post Jan. 1. The unit has been unprofitable every year since its first model in 1998.
Smart is run by the company's Mercedes division and was a main reason for Mercedes's loss of â¬505 million in 2005, the luxury-car division's first annual loss in more than a decade.
The Daily Auto Insider
Monday, June 26, 2006
June 2006
DaimlerChrysler plans to launch the miniscule Smart car in the U.S. in 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported.
With high gas prices spurring sales of small cars in the U.S, DaimlerChrysler hopes to turn around its unprofitable small-car unit, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter said.
Making the Smart car business profitable has been a priority for DaimlerChrysler's Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche since he took the post Jan. 1. The unit has been unprofitable every year since its first model in 1998.
Smart is run by the company's Mercedes division and was a main reason for Mercedes's loss of â¬505 million in 2005, the luxury-car division's first annual loss in more than a decade.