Smart mulling ForFour successor to rival Renault Twingo

Smart is mulling a successor to the Forfour as it looks to warrant the immense outgo of creating the incoming #2’s caller bespoke platform.

If it gets the greenish light, it volition headdress a immense overhaul of the Mercedes- and Geely-owned brand’s line-up, which volition see the motorboat of the precocious announced #2 metropolis car adjacent year, on with large updates to the #1 crossover and #3 coupé-crossover. They volition articulation the #5 SUV flagship, deliveries of which are acceptable to statesman successful the coming months.

Smart’s European CEO Dirk Adelmann told Autocar astatine the Munich centrifugal amusement that while there are nary factual motorboat plans "yet" for a caller ForFour, helium hinted it is thing the marque is looking at. The erstwhile four-seat metropolis car went retired of accumulation astatine the crook of the decade.

Like the #2 sibling, itself a successor to the fashionable Fortwo, a caller ForFour will apt beryllium designed and engineered for Europe, and usage the aforesaid underpinnings.

Any plan volition travel that of the #2, which, portion not yet revealed, “needed to look similar a successor", said Adelmann.

While the #4 has not yet been green-lit, Adelmann said specified a car is needed successful bid to warrant the immense outgo of creating the #2’s caller bespoke platform. “We request the economies of scale,” helium said. “The tricky portion was to get it tiny capable for the #2; it’s overmuch easier to grow slightly.”

Adelmann confirmed the #2's platform is apt to usage a dual-motor set-up but wouldn’t corroborate immoderate different method details, adding: “The wishlist features we gave to engineering was a precise tiny turning rhythm – the aforesaid arsenic the past Fortwo – to marque [the #2] truly applicable successful metropolis centres.”

In a archetypal for Smart, the level is being developed jointly by Geely successful China and Mercedes successful Europe, fixed that the car is built chiefly with a absorption connected the European market. This differs from the #1, #3 and #5, which were each engineered by Geely but designed by Mercedes.

“That’s precise important, due to the fact that this squad makes definite that we person a European merchandise that is acceptable for European customers,” said Adelmann.

Adelmann besides gave much details astir the upcoming #2, which earlier this period was confirmed for a motorboat adjacent year.

Despite its name, that car volition beryllium beneath the £29,960 #1 and slot successful astatine the premium extremity of the tiny electrical car market, which has taken disconnected since the motorboat of the Renault 5 earlier this year.

Asked if the Smart’s naming strategy would present go confusing for buyers, fixed that the smallest car successful the range, the #2, was numbered higher than the larger #1 crossover, Adelmann said: “Our nomenclature is simply a spot odd. The adjacent numbers we reserved for non-SUVs. So the smallest non-SUV assemblage benignant fig is simply a #2. Yes, it’s higher than #1, but truthful beryllium it.”

He said the thought for a Fortwo successor has been successful the works since 2019: “It was chiefly a outgo topic. We were calculating concern cases arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2019. We recovered a way.”

On the determination to bring it back, helium added: “You tin unrecorded without the icon, without the brand-defi ning vehicle. I don’t accidental it’s the nucleus of the brand, but it’s a big, large information of the brand.”

Adelmann did, however, admit Smart was “late” successful bringing the car to market. “We ever were trying to marque it feasible, but it took america 3 years longer than expected,” helium said. “Better precocious than never.”

Asked what it means to Smart to bring backmost the Fortwo, helium said: “We person 2.2 cardinal Fortwo and Forfour customers successful Europe who are truly waiting for a reinterpretation of the twoseater. We person had a retail web that is crying retired for a Fortwo successor implicit the past 2 years.”

Around the aforesaid clip arsenic the motorboat of the #2, Smart will begin rolling retired large updates for the #1 and #3. Adelmann said the first, which volition hap adjacent year, volition beryllium a “big” model-year update focusing connected “some” hardware changes. This volition beryllium followed by “an adjacent bigger facelift” successful 2027.