The new two-seat electric car is the latest and most important model in the current development program of the smart brand. The smart #2 is currently undergoing its final testing cycle, with its premiere scheduled for October at the Paris Motor Show.
The smart brand was born in 1994, with its debut model being a two-seat city car with a rear-mounted engine, a concept developed by independent Swiss entrepreneur Nicolas Hayek, the creator of the Swatch watch brand. Initially, the smart brand was owned by Micro Compact Car AG (MCC), a joint venture between the then Daimler-Benz group and the Swiss Swatch Group, but by 1998, Daimler-Benz had fully acquired MCC. The Germans then spent twenty years trying to make the smart brand profitable, but without success.
In 2019, the smart brand was placed under the management of smart Automobile, a 50-50 joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely. Since then, Geely has been responsible for the engineering and production of all new smart models, while Mercedes-Benz handles their design. With Geely's involvement, the smart brand was essentially completely relaunched. Its current model lineup includes the compact crossovers smart #1 and smart #3, the mid-size crossover smart #5, and the mid-size liftback smart #6. It was assumed that China would be the main sales market for these models, but due to excessively high prices, demand has been significantly lower than expected.
Now, the smart brand is primarily targeting Europe, where it is first and foremost associated with the two-seat smart fortwo, which existed across three generations. Production of the third-generation smart fortwo ended in 2024, and it will soon be replaced by the smart #2. In April of this year, the smart #2 debuted as a concept, and in June, some details of its interior design were revealed. The full premiere of the production smart #2 will take place in October in Paris, and in the meantime, the press office of smart Automobile has published photos of the pre-production car in camouflage wrap.
These photos make it clear that the production smart #2 will largely follow the design of the concept car of the same name, but will lack the latter's glamorous sheen. However, it promises sharp handling and a durable chassis capable of handling curb hopping and driving over centuries-old cobblestones in old European cities. The overall length of the smart #2 is 2792 mm, and its turning radius is 6.95 meters.
The smart #2 is based on the ECA (Electric Compact Architecture) platform, developed specifically for this model. The powertrains will be exclusively electric, with a single electric motor mounted on the rear axle. The suspension is fully independent with coil springs. Among the technical specifications, only the maximum driving range on a single charge has been announced so far: 300 km according to the WLTP cycle.
The success or failure of the smart #2 will largely depend on its price, about which there is no information yet. The smart #2 will be produced in China, so its price in Europe will include an increased import tariff. There have been rumors in Western media that production of the smart #2 could be established in Europe, but they have not yet received official confirmation.
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