Carmaker Daimler's miniature Smart car has had success in the difficult US market, with more models sold there than any other country apart from Germany and Italy. Roger Penske, the head of the Penske Group, a Detroit-based dealership chain that has partnered with German auto company Daimler to distribute Smart cars, said the figures were surprising considering sales "didn't really get started until February (2008)." Daimler said it had expected to sell around 16,000 units of the French-made two-seater, but that this figure was bettered by more than 8,000 additional vehicle sales. The new Smart even seems to have defied current auto sales trends in the US, which have been in freefall since the credit crunch took hold. There is a six-month waiting list for the Smart. [...] Penske said that 55 percent of prospects who placed a $99 Internet deposit to reserve a Smart car had eventually gone through with purchasing one of the vehicles.
Roger Penske, the head of the Penske Group, a Detroit-based dealership chain that has partnered with German auto company Daimler to distribute Smart cars, said the figures were surprising considering sales "didn't really get started until February (2008)."
Daimler said it had expected to sell around 16,000 units of the French-made two-seater, but that this figure was bettered by more than 8,000 additional vehicle sales.
The new Smart even seems to have defied current auto sales trends in the US, which have been in freefall since the credit crunch took hold. There is a six-month waiting list for the Smart.
[...]
Penske said that 55 percent of prospects who placed a $99 Internet deposit to reserve a Smart car had eventually gone through with purchasing one of the vehicles.
