Who Makes The Smart Car?

[Florentin]

Who is the maker of Smart Car?
Is it GM? I heard someone say it is BMW or MINI?

hard to believe.
is it even us-made?

[ex-EV1 driver]

Daimler (Mercedes) Benz makes it.

[mandiees]

They have them at the Mercedes dealership here in San Diego, so I am going to agree with the poster above and say that Daimler Chrysler is the manufacturer.

[mdensch]

The Smart Fortwo is manufactured by Daimler (Mercedes) at a plant in France.

(And so far, Daimler has lost billions on this venture.)

Smart cars were born from a joint venture between Swatch and Mercedes: we have hundreds of them in Rome, Italy. They're everywhere!

Mercedes manufactures the smart at a dedicated plant in Hambach, France called Smartville. The origional concept was a joint venture between Swatch and Mercedes hence the name smart which is an initialism for Swatch Mercedes Art. However, Swatch pulled out early, even before production I think. To add to the confusion Mercedes also had another mini car project called MCC which I believe stood for Mercedes City Coupe or Compact Car. None of the components are US made. My own smart says that it is 44% German, 20% odd percent Japanese (engine), and the remaining parts are sourced from France and Italy. Swatch origionated the idea for a small city car with interchangeable body panels and a high level of custimization. They approached many auto makers to get the project off the ground and initially Volkswagen took them up on their offer but later pulled out. This is where Mercedes stepped in.

The Smart had been manufactured by Mitsibushi since 2007. Not sure who actually owns the company.

After you posted this question I realized that I don't surely know. From my knowledge smart cars were made in Germany, by Daimler. My boyfriend, who works at a Fox Car rental agency believes that they're made in France. With one thing we agree: You can use this cars with reliability.

[RosannahLeone]

I think it's Daimler who makes the smart car. I know that because I was once donating a car and I saw one right next to me. It seemed a little curious, but apparently these cars aren't made in Germany.

Mercedes Benz makes Smart cars. Its a brand not a type of car like subcompact. Preparations for the smart fortwo began in the early 1990's with a Joint Venture between Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, the makers of Swatch watches, known for their wide array of colorful designs electric cars. Nicolas Hayek, the inventor of the Swatch watch brought his ideas for an "ultra-urban" car to Mercedes-Benz.