Ironically I just saw one of these in blue yesterday & was like wow they're finally here. And now they're on the yahoo home page.

Interesting commentary/analysis of market demand and outlook can be found here.

I'm quite drawn to the car, personally. Then again, when I was four and first saw a BMW Isetta, I was drawn to it, too.

The thing about the Smart Car that disturbs me is that the gas mileage isn't enough justification to buy the car. At an EPA rated 33/41 it isn't much better than my 2000 Saturn which regularly delivers 29 MPG in the city, and a very respectable 37 MPG highway I posted on an extended daytrip of some 400+ miles a couple of years back.

thanks for the comment. i think the appeal is less of a space footprint thus allowing for more traffic flow and ease in parking. Aren't these the ones that can park head first into the curb (ie length = width of standard vehicles)

Also smaller car = less materials, so production/maintentance must also yield a major benefit.

Cool article, thanks. Maybe they should make a star wars version, ie have a larger SUV back that pushes it and then you can park/detach the car in front like a mobile cab! LOL

hey also found out about fueleconomy.gov or something like that. it shows actual MPG for all model cars for past decade. very useful