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Smart background and Smart deals news

Smart, formerly Smart GmbH (formerly MCC Smart GmbH), is a manufacturer of microcars and superminis based in Böblingen, Germany. It is marketed as "smart" in all lower-case, with the current Smart brand logo denoting a letter "c" for "compact" and an arrow for "forward thinking". The project, started by Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch, was nicknamed the "Swatchmobile". The name Smart is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART. Intended to use innovative features (such as a hybrid engine) and be affordable for young people, the Smart had similar design objective to the Citroën 2CV of the 1940s. The first car intended to use innovative features and be affordable to young people. The idea behind the car was also to create a vehicle easy to park and very user-friendly in towns. Its length of 250 centimeters was designed to equal the width of a regular parking slot, allowing two or three Smarts to park in the same space of one normal car.

Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek sought an established car maker to produce his Swatch car. In 1993, Mercedes-Benz started a feasibility study on a subcompact car. Together with the Swatch Group Ltd. they founded the Micro Compact Car AG in 1994. The Smart city-coupe celebrates its world première at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1997. Unfortunately, in 2006, after dwindling sales, Smart GmbH was liquidated and its operations were absorbed within the Mercedes-Benz automobile group. Apart from the original short Smart Fortwo, a sporty Smart Roadster, a limited production of 2000 concept Smart Crosstown and a supermini Smart Forfour were also made but have now been discontinued. There were also plans to introduce a Brazilian-made cross-over based on the body of the ForFour. Last year, Smart sold 46,624 cars, and is on-track to sell more in 2016.

Small, light cars with low-capacity engines pollute very little. As such, Smart are already ahead of the game in terms of environmental responsibility. Smart cars are designed for disassembly, and combined with a high proportion of recyclable materials used in production, this means that end-of-life energy wastage is minimal. Much of a Smart car is constructed from plastics, too, giving it a very light footprint on the road.