Before mentioning smart, people usually discuss it with a mocking tone, or treat it as an expensive toy for the rich, and ordinary people rarely regard it as a seriously considered car purchase option.
However, when Geely, which had become Daimler's largest shareholder two years ago, and Mercedes-Benz formed a joint venture company to jointly operate Smart, the identity of the brand changed completely. In addition to the full turn to electric, smart's new products also incorporate the needs of more Chinese consumers, depart from the positioning of urban personalized scooter micro-vehicles, and undertake a wider range of application scenarios.
In September last year, the new Smart brand had already shown the first model, the Genie #1 concept car, and now its mass production version has finally been officially released. What kind of car is this? Compared with other popular electric vehicles in China, what are the characteristics? What kind of potential does it have after the domestic listing in the future?
Mercedes-Benz engaged in design Geely engaged in research and development? What's the case with smart brands?
To get to know the Genie #1 car, it's important to first talk about the company behind it, Smart Automobile Co, Ltd.
The general background of the small partners should have some understanding. Since the beginning of 2018, Geely has gradually acquired shares in The Daimler Group, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, and eventually became the largest shareholder with a 9.7% share ratio, costing about $9 billion. Two years later, Geely Holdings and Mercedes-Benz jointly injected 5.4 billion yuan to form Smart Motor Automobile Co., Ltd. in a 50:50 joint venture to jointly operate the smart brand.
Unlike most existing joint ventures in China, such as FAW-Volkswagen and GAC Toyota, Geely's function in the smart brand is no longer simple factory building, production, marketing and sales, but deep participation in and even leading new product research and development. At present, the first product Genie #1 that has been released is designed by mercedes-Benz's global design team, and Geely is responsible for engineering research and development, and the foundation of this car is the same vast architecture of Geely's Extreme Kr 001.
That is to say, the appearance and interior of the Genie #1 we see are designed by Mercedes-Benz, while its chassis, architecture, motor, electronic control and other systems are mainly developed by Geely. This is the most basic information about Sprite #1.
In addition, the current management structure of Smart Motor is also very interesting, first of all, the board of directors, 6 members from Mercedes-Benz and Geely each accounted for three people, the two sides formed a balance.
Mingxia Zhang is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and After-Sales of Smart Brands Global Company
However, in the specific operation management, in addition to the first CEO by Tong Xiangbei from Geely, the vice president responsible for the global sales, marketing and after-sales business of the Smart brand, Daniel Lescow, who was originally a Mercedes-Benz party, has been replaced by Zhang Mingxia, but she was not a veteran of Geely before, but worked for Mercedes-Benz, mainly involved in mercedes-Benz's business in the Chinese market for twenty years.
In addition, the company's vice president of finance is Ulf Nestler from Mercedes-Benz, and the vice president of research and development is Yang Jun from Geely. That is to say, in the top management, Mercedes-Benz and Geely's personnel are basically half of each, but the business that the Chinese side is responsible for obviously has a heavier weight, and the sales vice president is entrusted to a Chinese (not sure whether it is a Chinese nationality) to be responsible, which can also be seen that Mercedes-Benz has given full trust to the Chinese side in the future operation of the smart brand.
This structure is undoubtedly a good thing for consumers, Chinese brands in the service, marketing, sales and other links, are more flexible than foreign brands, after the Chinese side has enough say, smart brand future pricing and services, may also have more surprises.
The above is the basic situation of the smart brand, after talking about these, let's take a look at such a company, what kind of work has been handed over.
Honda Binzhi's size, mercedes E-class space?
The highlights of the exterior and interior will be discussed later, first of all, from the parametric level to determine the positioning of genie #1. The first is the size and level, the external dimensions of the smart genie #1 is a standard small SUV, the closest model in shape and size should be the MINI COUNTRYMAN, but the wheelbase of the smart genie #1 has reached 2750mm, which has clearly exceeded the ordinary compact model, this long wheelbase, short body features, is also the characteristics of the current pure electric platform model.
As shown in the table above, the body of smart genie #1 is 40mm shorter than mini countryman, but the wheelbase is 80mm longer than the latter, showing a more obvious "four-wheel four-corner" feature, and the MINI that originally had this feature is no longer obvious in front of smart genie #1.
In addition, in terms of overall size and proportion, smart genie #1 and Volkswagen's ID.3, Euler good cat and other models, in addition to the lower body height, the length and width of the car are close to the smart genie #1. As for the bydd meta PLUS, which was recently listed, it is not very large in the compact SUV, but the overall is still a lap larger than the smart genie #1.
The domestic best-selling small SUV Honda Binzhi, the body is 58mm longer than the Smart Genie #1, but the wheelbase is 140mm shorter, which means that the seating space inside the Smart Genie #1 may be more spacious than the Binzhi.
In fact, at the German press conference, the official claim that the Smart Genie #1 has a ride space comparable to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Note that the smart genie #1 is an A0-class SUV, and the Mercedes-Benz E-class is a C-class sedan, the two are three levels apart, Mercedes-Benz said, is it too exaggerated?
There is no domestic media to have access to real cars, but we can get a glimpse of the reviews of foreign media at the German press conference:
Smart Genie #1 foreign media live shooting
Mercedes-Benz E-Class reel
The above is the smart genie #1 and the rear row of the standard axis Mercedes-Benz E-class, Mercedes-Benz mentioned in Germany, of course, refers to the standard shaft, not the domestic extended version. Judging from the pictures alone, the rear space of Sprite #1 does not seem to be inferior to the standard axis E class. However, it is not intuitive to look at it this way, we can look at the state of the foreign media brother sitting in the car:
The picture above is a review of the German media "Auto Bild", the car reviewer is 1.95 meters tall, sitting in the elf #1 is indeed not very spacious, but there is still a certain amount of headroom in the knees and head.
In addition, the rear seats of Genie #1 support front and rear adjustment and backrest angle adjustment, the seat can be adjusted by 13cm, the most front and back space, we can also understand through another car reviewer with a more "normal" height:
In fact, from the following picture, it can be seen that the rear seating space of Genie #1 is indeed relatively spacious, and according to speculation, its space should be able to reach the level of some domestic A+ class and even B-class cars. Considering that the back row is a flat platform, genie #1's ride space and comfort should be excellent.
As for the storage space, due to the rear drive layout, the Genie #1 has a front compartment in front, and the volume of 15 liters is not large, and the charging equipment can be placed.
As for the trunk, limited by the overall small size, the volume is not large, but after the seat is reclined, it can form a nearly flat space, and the floor of the entire trunk is very flat, and there is no problem in coping with daily household use.
6.7 seconds to break 100, the maximum cruising range of 560 kilometers
According to the currently known information, smart genie #1 uses a single motor rear-drive power structure, the maximum power and peak torque data are 272 horsepower and 343 Nm, 0-100km/h acceleration performance of 6.7 seconds, the maximum speed of 180km/h, equipped with a set of 66kWh ternary lithium battery, WLTP working range is between 420-440 km, and CLTC working conditions, the endurance is about 560 km.
Regardless of acceleration performance or mileage, genie #1 data is not brilliant at the moment, but considering the positioning of its small SUV, it should be based on urban commuting and transportation, and then compare with other similarly positioned electric vehicles in China, which is basically the mainstream level:
The meta PLUS is a new compact SUV built by BYD based on pure electric architecture, with 7.3 seconds of 0-100km/h acceleration performance, 430-510 km of working life, compared with genie #1 are still slightly inferior, and the main sales version of the Volkswagen ID.4 series has only 425 km of working life at the beginning.
However, the information about Genie #1 is still very limited, and how many endurance versions it will have after it is listed in China in the future is still unknown.
What are the design highlights of Sprite #1, which was directed by Mercedes-Benz?
The design and engineering research and development of the smart brand mentioned above are respectively responsible for Mercedes-Benz and Geely, and unlike the previous Denza, the design of smart genie is undertaken by Mercedes-Benz's global design team, and the resources are not inferior to the main Mercedes-Benz brand. And on Genie #1, we did see a lot of distinctive highlights.
The first is the appearance, the elf #1 before and after the use of through-type light groups, and are two large, middle fine shape, the look of round, concise, did not take a sharp, sporty route.
The side of the body is very clean, there is no obvious waist line, shoulder line, hidden door handle appeared expected, but the design of the borderless door has also been retained, which really exceeds the expectations of many people. At present, within 300,000 yuan in China, only a very small number of pure electric vehicle models such as Extreme Kr 001 and Leading C01 have bezel-less doors, and on small SUVs such as Genie #1, there is basically no precedent for this design on the market.
From this alone, it can be inferred that the price of Genie #1 will not be too inexpensive.
Minimalist look, but also some ingenuity in detail, such as the word smart on the hidden door handle.
Under the door handle, there is a light.
In addition, officials have declared that the door handle of this car has the ability to "break the ice" in winter.
The C-pillar design is very novel, with a new shape showing a sense of suspension, and a large smart logo is placed here, and it is luminous.
On the B-pillar, the logo of "STYLED BY Mercedes-Benz" just right to reveal his identity.
As for the interior of the car, the center control of Genie #1 has a new design, and the central control screen adopts suspension type and is of moderate size.
The presence of the full LCD instrument is greatly weakened, and information such as speed, power, multimedia, temperature, and vehicle status is retained in a relatively narrow space.
However, Genie #1 is also equipped with a 10-inch HUD head-up display, which is also a new idea that is gradually emerging, such as the upcoming release of the ideal L9, which is more radical than Genie #1:
In addition, a major feature of the Genie #1 interior is the full use of the atmosphere lights, in the center console, T-shaped area and doors, there are either conspicuous or subtle atmosphere light arrangement, and support 64 colors and multiple levels of brightness adjustment, so that the atmosphere of the entire car has the texture of a luxury car:
In addition, where the legs of the front driver and passengers touch, a soft leather treatment is set up, which is also a design that only appears in the luxury class.
In terms of functionality, a wireless charging pad appears under the center console, and the 12V power interface, Type A and Type C are set up next to it, which is equivalent to a total of 4 charging methods.
The seats are all perforated and cover the backrest and seat cushion, and it has been clear that the front row is equipped with seat ventilation.
A closer look will find that the sprite #1 seat belt adopts a light color design with the same color as the seat, while most of the ordinary models are black, and the sports car is accustomed to using some contrast colors, and the design of the same color as the seat, which is not common at present.
Inside the central storage box, there is an air duct opening, indicating that hot and cold air can be transported into it.
The car keys are a very cute disc type and can be placed on the front wireless charging pad for charging.
Sound brands use Beats.
From the above functional configuration and design, we can see that smart genie #1 is a small SUV with luxury texture, this positioning is basically blank in the market at present, based on the pure electric platform to create luxury cars, temporarily concentrated in the medium-sized or above level, independent brands although there are already Euler good cat, BYD Dolphin and other models, but the positioning is basically still the mainstream price.
It is certain that Genie #1 will be listed domestically within this year, which has created a new model of cooperation between Chinese and foreign car companies, how will it be positioned in the future, what kind of sales can be brought to Geely and Mercedes-Benz in the electric vehicle market, and it is also one of the events worth looking forward to in this year's new energy vehicle market.
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