Smart’s rebirth has flopped. Can a new city car and boss energise it?
Does that also rule out the #6, a big battery-toting plug-in hybrid saloon with in excess of 1,000-miles of combined petrol/electric range? “We are not sure about that one in Europe, because it’s a hybrid car.” The saloon bodystyle would further stretch Smart’s brand, this time in competition with the Mercedes E-Class. Ufer sees the Mercedes and Smart portfolios as complementary, with the junior brand operating in the A- to C-segments, from city cars to mid-size SUVs.
Is the focus on maximising sales of the existing SUVs, or continuing to grow the range? “I can tell you, I want to do both. I want to sell the #1, #3 and #5 and be more successful, then we will have the historic launch of the #2. We can also talk about additional variants or portfolio changes.”
Advertisement - Article continues belowDoes Smart benchmark itself against MINI, and would that entice it into the small hatchback market? “This is not arrogant but we look [less] at MINI, more at our customers and the potential, and whether we see a good opportunity between #2 and #1.” If Smart does seize this opportunity, it can develop cars at ‘China speed’ in around 24 months reckons the boss.
First there’s a lot of work to be done, with the brand being rolled out to more European markets. Progress has been slow, with Smart’s rebirth coinciding with the Covid epidemic and the chips supply crisis, uncertainty around used EV values and national governments’ electric vehicle subsidies, “a rollercoaster” existence, says Ufer.
But this is the same for every car maker, and other Chinese newcomers – Chery, BYD, Jaecoo and Omoda – have made great strides in the “super-challenging” UK market. Smart has only registered 740 cars in the UK so far in 2026, across 32 sales sites. At the ForTwo’s height, Ufer was maximising its sales in big European cities such as London, Paris and Rome, a city where the brand sold 10,000 alone per year.
So where does Ufer want Smart to be in three years’ time? “My personal vision would be for people to say: ‘Okay, we understood what Smart did, they enlarged the portfolio. The #2 is in all possible variants in the markets, and we are successful. In this very challenging environment, we’ve managed our economical situation, which for a full electric brand is not easy. And we want to be one of the fastest growing BEV brands.”
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