Before entering the automotive industry, I also regarded Smart as a classic, thinking that Smart is a representative of refinement, fashion and personality, but when I have a more open vision and a better understanding of cars, I think that the former Samrt is just an old man's car under Mercedes-Benz, and I once regarded it as a classic perhaps more because of its high price of Mercedes-Benz.
In the European and American markets, the Samrt series of models are extremely low price, generally only a few thousand dollars, the price is even cheaper than buying a Honda Fit in the local area, in the new car market you are difficult to find cheaper than Samrt model, foreign consumers will also see it as a real grocery car, toy car, just like our Wuling Hongguang MINI EV.
However, after entering The country, the Samrt series of models has been shaped into a boutique model, and its price is twice as expensive as that of foreign countries.
The price range is 110,000-220,000 yuan. Many people think that with Mercedes-Benz as its endorsement, the Samrt will sell well even if the price is high, but it is worth noting that it is always just a mini car.
Although the mini car may be an excellent solution to solve the future urban travel congestion in the eyes of Mercedes-Benz, it should be known that in the country at that time, the mini car was not popular, coupled with its high price, completely inconsistent with the consumption concept of Chinese, even if the micro car such as the Hongguang MINI EV is sought after now, it is also because of its cheap price and low cost of use, Samst's brand positioning is inherently unable to do these two things. Chinese is rich, but not stupid, so Samrt in the country is more sought after by the mouth, the real consumers do not buy it, and even lead to Samrt can not make ends meet, Mercedes former president Zetsche once said to the outside world, Samrt has to lose 200 million euros a year.
In 2019, Daimler Group and Geely Holding Group formally signed a joint venture agreement, in which the two sides jointly invested in the establishment of a joint venture company in China to operate and develop the Smart brand and build smart into a pure electric vehicle brand. The Smart brand seems to have ushered in a new life.
In the early morning of April 8, the first product of the hybrid Smart, Smart Genie #1, was officially released in the German capital Berlin, which is a completely different model from any previous Samrt, which is based on the Geely Vast SEA architecture, designed by Mercedes-Benz, and Geely is responsible for the development of vehicle engineering. Although it is called a genie, it is not as petite as a genie, but it is larger than all the previous Samrts, and its positioning has changed from a mini car to a small SUV.
The appearance of Smart Genie #1 is simply not too fashionable compared to the former Samrt series products, the design of the vehicle is still very strong, the front-run LED light group with trapezoidal grille, so that the front face of the vehicle has a little playful and cute.
In addition, Samrt Genie #1 also has the most fashionable hidden electric door handles, frameless door design, suspended roof, its wheels also reach 19 inches, the side body lines are also very smooth, the overall look is not bad, but in today's car market, in fact, there is no too bright place. The whole side is more interesting is its C pillar, in its C pillar has a Smart graphic Logo, in the previous concept car will emit light, now whether it will emit light is unknown.
The tail is slightly mediocre compared to the front and side design, the entire tail shows a rounded feeling, in addition to the bottom of the black bumper design is not bad, there is no bright place elsewhere, the overall upper and lower layering is general.
In terms of size, the Smart Genie #1 has a length of 4270mm, a width of 1822mm, a height of 1636mm, and a wheelbase of 2750mm, making it the largest model in Smart's history, surpassing the Volkswagen ID.3 in length, width and height, and even the body size of the MINI COUNTRY MAN.
Looking at the interior, the overall design of the interior of Smart Genie #1 is very Mercedes-Benz, and simplicity and fashion coexist. At the same time, it is equipped with a 12.8-inch suspension central control large screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and its car has 12G of running memory and 128G storage space. In terms of intelligent configuration, Smart Genie #1 is equipped with the latest Smart Pilot intelligent driving assistance system, including adaptive cruise, lane keeping assistance, traffic congestion assistance, automatic parking assistance, adaptive low beam and other functions, in addition, more than 75% of vehicle components such as infotainment, driver assistance systems, and electronic vehicle architecture support OTA upgrades.
Powerly, The Smart adopts the power layout of a single-motor rear-drive, with a maximum motor power of 200kW, a peak torque of 343Nm, and a time of 0-100km/h of 6.7s. In terms of battery life, Smart Genie #1 is equipped with a 66-degree ternary battery, and the endurance under CLTC conditions is 560km, and the overall endurance performance is still relatively good.
From the first product of Samrt after the joint venture, we can clearly feel that Samrt has changed the brand strategy and style, and it can even be said to be subversive, but there is still a big problem in front of Samrt, that is, will consumers pay?
It is worth mentioning that last year, it was reported that the mass production price of Smart Genie #1 will be between 200,000 and 250,000, which is quite likely in the case of the participation of Mercedes-Benz. But the problem is that this car Mercedes-Benz only dominates the design, the rest of the work is Geely-led, the price of 20-25 million for the independent brand of the same level of the premium a lot, now in the electrification products, consumers are more inclined to domestic brands, Smart Genie #1 If it is really a 200,000-level small SUV, it will only become a rich toy in the future, even if it is charged, it is not beneficial to the development of Geely's new energy road, and it is not good for the revival of the Smart brand. Of course, if the price of Smart Genie #1 can be controlled within 150,000, it will be a very fragrant model, and it will be difficult to even think of fire, but this should be unlikely.