All-electric strategy impacted Smart sales
- The Daimler group decided last year that all Smart cars produced from October 2019 would only be 100% electric (BEV) and no longer thermal and 100% electric. This decision was valid both for the Smart Fortwo produced at the French plant of Hambach and for the Smart Forfour produced at the Slovenian plant of Novo Mesto.
- It was expected that the transition to all-electric would result in a drop in sales of Smart, as customers of traditional thermal Smart would not automatically switch to the electric motor version which is much more expensive to purchase. This fall was therefore felt from October 2019.
- Consequently, over the first eight months of 2020, Smart sales in Europe fell to 11,015 units, compared to 72,870 units in the first eight months of 2019 and 66,740 units in the first eight months of 2018.
- In these totals, sales of BEVs smart represented 10,951 units in the first eight months of 2020, compared to 8,982 units in the first eight months of 2019 and 8,190 units in the first eight months of 2018.
- Sales of BEVs increased slightly, however, Smart's strategy to switch from thermal to electric ultimately resulted partly in an 85% loss in sales, as the lock down amplified the phenomenon. Recent sales of thermal versions have been made only from stock.
- The Hambach plant will therefore only produce 20,000 vehicles in 2020 against 78,000 in 2019 and 83,000 in 2018. This represents a 75% drop in production. Daimler has announced, however, that it could extend the operation of the Hambach plant in 2021 and 2022, while it is time to finalize the replacement project for the Fortwo which will now be produced in China.
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