Last year, before Geely and Daimler joined forces, Smart's global sales were 38,500 units, less than a month's sales of popular domestic models, and smarts at this time were still in a state of selling one at a loss. With the change of the times, after nearly 3 years of suspension of sales, Mercedes-Benz smart has finally come back to life, so can it play its own piece of the sky in the fierce competition in the new era?
Only this time is different, following the pace of electrification, this car has stepped into the field of new energy. The new model smart genie #1, with the identity of a pure electric model, I personally prefer to call it electric smart, and the model positioning has been upgraded from a mini mini car to a compact SUV, and the design style inside and out is also very different from the smart in the past impression.
Follow the pace of the times smart genie #1 complete transformation
With the release of Smart Genie #1, smart is back to life. This generation of Smart Genie #1 actually belongs to the fourth generation of smart models in the development process. After all, it is an electric car, so the smart genie #1 looks like a popular design style for electric vehicles at the moment, and the rounded front, body, and headlights look a little bit related to the original look, looking cute and cute, that is actually because the new car is more inclined to the female market research and development.
In the face of declining sales and the wave of electrification, Smart chose a more conservative approach to build a small SUV. Smart had also introduced electrified versions and introduced them to China before that, but only as a few of its minor attempts at electrification. Nowadays, smart genie #1 will directly benchmark Volkswagen ID.3 models in the European market, and more competitive pressure in the domestic market will come from independent brand manufacturers.
I believe that the biggest impression left by smart before was "small", but now the new car has been completely transformed. Smart Genie #1 is based on Geely's SEA vast architecture, which means that unlike smart's previous new energy model, this model has the current fashionable OTA upgrade function.
In terms of shape design, although there is the existence of the previous shadow, more flow linear lines have been added. Frameless doors, pop-up hidden door handles and other elements make the whole body look more sporty and stylish, and perhaps it will be much better to see a real car.
Traces of Mercedes-Benz can also be seen in the details, like the front and rear light strips that run through the front, a bit of the EQ family. In the B-pillar, C-pillar, wheel hub and other places are marked with the fuel version of the smart logo, the front and rear of the car use English smart letters, such a design can strengthen the consumer's impression of its identity.
From the perspective of body size, the smart genie #1 is 4270mm, 1822mm and 1636mm, respectively. Based on the advantages of the pure electric platform, there is more imagination space in the carriage space, so smart genie #1 has achieved a wheelbase of 2750mm, which is already a performance of an A+ class close to the B class car.
To be sure, the long wheelbase will make today's smarts smoother and more manageable than any previous smart. Perhaps in later practical experience, we can get a more affirmative answer. Let's turn our eyes to the car.
New to the interior layout in addition to this 12.8-inch touch screen, the central control area seems to have no other physical buttons, the car machine using Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, is the current more mainstream choice, the full LCD dashboard is 9.2 inches, vaguely can see the shadow of Mercedes-Benz, but the overall design is simple and textured, as if to tell us that it is for young consumers to create.
The "Inspiration Planet" smart OS full-scene digital ecological car machine system equipped with the car machine is that according to the official introduction, we can issue specific instructions through the voice summoning screen (Avatar), and this elf assistant (Avatar) will continue to learn to adapt to user behavior in our daily use process. In addition, the new model is also equipped with a HUD head-up display function.
In simple terms, the new car can project some information from the dashboard onto the front windshield. Because of the advantages of the new pure electric platform, the long wheelbase makes the rear seating space of the new car more spacious, and the rear seat also supports front and rear adjustment, which is a small surprise.
As for power, smart genie #1 is equipped with a rear motor, the maximum power is 272Ps, with three driving modes adjustable, support L2 level auxiliary driving function, genie #1 is equipped with a ternary lithium battery with an energy density of 66kWh, and the cruising range under CLTC conditions is between 560km. At the same time, the new car has a fast charging function, which can be charged from 10% to 80% in just 30 minutes.
This is also why the Smart Genie #1 will have a larger change in body size than the previous model of the Smart, and the larger space can provide a larger layout of the battery, which is also conducive to improving the original intention of the mileage.
Can smart genie #1 have good sales?
Based on the price of the Smart Genie #1 model, to discuss how its sales will perform in the future, in fact, the price in the domestic market and its sales volume can be said to have a certain relationship. Prior to this, the reason why smart products could not be recognized by more consumers and could not get more sales, its product positioning and higher selling price should be the biggest obstacle. This truth will be applied in the global automotive market, after all, excluding product performance, consumers will be more sensitive to price.
In fact, as far as the positioning of smart genie #1 is concerned, it focuses on the segment of the female transportation market, and it is not particularly prominent in terms of current endurance and power, but in terms of brand influence, with personality, cute appearance and interior design, I believe it can still gain the recognition of a group of female consumers.
Therefore, the pricing of smart genie #1 in China will be a big problem, because with the addition of Geely, how to achieve a balance between the price and profit, which will also affect the future cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and Geely.
In terms of the current domestic new energy market products, the positioning of smart genie #1 coincides with BYD Dolphin, Euler Good Cat and other models, which is a fiercely competitive market segment of new energy. So what is the future market prospect of this car jointly created by Geely and Mercedes-Benz? Let's take a look at it.
Taking Euler Good Cat, BYD Dolphin and other models as an example, the average price of this type of model is about 150,000 yuan, which is also a reasonable price range that the market terminal is willing to accept. But if it exceeds 150,000 yuan, it will be beyond the consideration of most ordinary users. Yes, on the other hand, if the price is too low to pay attention to the volume, it will definitely face the problem of how to make a profit. The market performance of the old models is obvious to all, and the other two models in this market segment, black cats and white cats, have stopped production because of losses, which also shows that low-priced consumption is not a long-term solution.
The two models launched this time are Pro+, Premium, and their official pre-sale price range is 190,000-230,000 yuan (after subsidies for new energy vehicles and excluding paid options). At the same time, the official booking channel has been officially opened, and users can log in to the "smart car APP" or "smart car mini program" to make a reservation (the intention deposit is 500 yuan)
With the current pre-sale range of 190,000 yuan to 230,000 yuan, smart genie #1 is in the middle and high-end new energy market. But in this market segment, mart genie #1 will not only face new car-making forces like Tesla and Xiaopeng, but also compete with a number of independent brand car companies. This means that smart genie #1 will face a fierce battle in the new energy small SUV track and the new energy high-end market.
Popular Opinion Car: Goodbye Smart Hello Smart Genie #1
It is undeniable that the original fuel version of smart has a strong influence in both the Chinese market and the global market, but now it can be continued in the new model of smart genie #1, we are not sure. In terms of the performance of the product's own strength, there is indeed an advantage, so what would you consider such a pure electric smart?