In 2019, Geely acquired a 50% stake in the Smart brand and announced that it would become a pure electric smart car brand. Smart has thus ushered in a turnaround. In 2020, Mercedes-Benz and Geely formed a global joint venture company for the smart brand "Smart Automobile Co., Ltd.". Officially established, joint operation on a global scale and promote the transformation and upgrading of smart brand. Now, after a two-year "blank period", the new smart genie #1 has arrived, heralding the brand's electric revival.
"With the official launch of the first new mass-produced model, the smart brand has entered a new stage of full-speed development." Tong Xiangbei, CEO of Smart Brand Global, said, "In the future, we will adhere to the forward-looking development strategy of 'China-Europe dual-core, global layout' and continuously expand the global development margin of the enterprise." Smart has grown up, and tomorrow's journey is the sea of stars. ”
Last night (April 25), the new smart genie #1 was officially launched, launching a total of Pro+ and Premium models, with a pre-price of 190,000-230,000 yuan after subsidies. The new car is built on Geely's new Vast SEA architecture, equipped with a ternary lithium battery with a capacity of 66 kWh, and the CLTC has a maximum cruising range of 560 kilometers.
The price of the new smart genie #1 is screenshot from the online conference
The smart brand was born in 1998 as a mini car brand launched by Daimler in collaboration with Swatch. In 2008, Mercedes-Benz made its debut at the 10th Beijing International Auto Show with a variety of smart models; A year later, Smart Fortwo officially launched in the Chinese market. At that time, smart small and exquisite shape, smart sports control attracted a lot of fans, at its peak, smart once set an annual sales record of 150,000 vehicles.
However, due to the shrinking A00-level market, the slow launch of new products of the brand, the wave of electrification and other factors, Smart has gradually gone downhill and has not been able to achieve the goal of selling 200,000 vehicles worldwide. In 2018, sales of the Smart brand fell 4.6 percent to 130,000 units, less than a fraction of Mercedes-Benz's 2.25 million units sold. Subsequently, Smart stopped selling fuel models in China and North America.
In 2019, Geely acquired a 50% stake in the Smart brand and announced that it would become a pure electric smart car brand. Smart has thus ushered in a turnaround. In 2020, Mercedes-Benz and Geely formed a global joint venture company for the smart brand "Smart Automobile Co., Ltd.". Officially established, joint operation on a global scale and promote the transformation and upgrading of smart brand. Now, after a two-year "blank period", the new smart genie #1 has arrived, heralding the brand's electric revival.
Screenshot of the new smart genie #1 from the online launch
"With the official launch of the first new mass-produced model, the smart brand has entered a new stage of full-speed development." Tong Xiangbei, CEO of Smart Brand Global, said, "In the future, we will adhere to the forward-looking development strategy of 'China-Europe dual-core, global layout' and continuously expand the global development margin of the enterprise." Smart has grown up, and tomorrow's journey is the sea of stars. ”
In terms of appearance, the new smart genie #1 adopts the "sensual and sharp" design philosophy tailored for the Mercedes-Benz global design team. The enclosed front face is equipped with a through-line day running light and a triangular headlight light cluster, highlighting its electric identity. Hidden door handles, borderless windows and other designs further enhance the fashion and dynamic of the new car. In addition, 11 body colors, 4 interior styles, a variety of color collocations to choose from, fully take care of the user's personality expression.
It is understood that the length, width and height of the new car are 4270 mm× 1822 mm× 1636 mm, and the wheelbase is 2750 mm. The extreme use of space does not live up to the title of "space magician" of the brand.
In terms of interior, the new smart genie #1 follows a minimalist design style, the overall line is rounded, and a large number of ring elements are added to the air conditioning outlet. The central control screen has a built-in 9.2-inch LCD instrument and a 12.8-inch floating 1080p central control screen, which is matched by the "smart inspiration planet" intelligent human-computer interaction system. It is worth mentioning that there is also a small fox on the inspiration planet, which is the user's elf assistant Avatar, which can quickly learn and adapt to the user's voice habits through AI artificial intelligence technology.
In terms of power, the new car is equipped with a 66 kWh ternary lithium battery, and the maximum pure electric mileage can reach 560 kilometers. In DC overcharge mode, it takes less than 30 minutes to increase the power from 10% to 80%. It is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous electric drive with a maximum power of 200 kW, a peak torque of 343 Nm, and an acceleration from stationary to 100 km/h in just 6.7 seconds. At the same time, 3 driving modes and 3 steering comforts are available.
Screenshot from the online conference
In terms of intelligent interconnection, the new smart genie #1 is equipped with a highly integrated, high-performance computing power architecture, which brings powerful OTA dynamic real-time update function, and more than 75% of the ECU electronic control units of the vehicle can be continuously upgraded remotely. At the same time, the new Smart Genie #1 is equipped with personalized interior mood lights and an operating interface, and users can also share the urban driving fun brought by the new Smart Genie #1 with friends through the APP digital key.
In terms of business model, Smart has steadily promoted the D2C direct sales agency business model with "user-centric, digital-driven" as the core concept. At present, Smart has completed the infrastructure of the user digital ecosystem and gathered a group of like-minded partners with Smart. In 2022, nearly 150 independent sales and service outlets will be gradually rolled out, covering more than 40 domestic first-tier, new first-tier and second-tier cities, so that more users can experience Smart's unique new luxury brands, products and services at close range.
In the new track of vigorous development, the smart brand innovates all the way, constantly broadens the margins of enterprise development, and actively seeks a sustainable development vision. Implementing the forward-looking development strategy of "China-Europe Dual-Core, Global Layout", Smart has laid out two major new energy vehicle markets in the world, and has made great progress in brand building, product development and manufacturing, and sales and service networks. At the same time, Smart actively deepens its global operations and has joined hands with Proton Toyton To jointly develop the southeast Asian new energy vehicle market with great potential.
Mingxia Zhang, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and After-Sales of Smart Brand Global Company Screenshot from the online conference
Mingxia Zhang, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and After-Sales, Global Company of Smart Brand, said: "The official launch of the new Smart Genie #1 is just a new starting point in the development of the brand. In the face of tomorrow, we will continue to focus on users, integrate unlimited inspiration into business operations, and continue to bring brand products and service experiences that exceed expectations and are full of surprises. Smart will work with users who also love tomorrow's infinite possibilities to create a commitment to becoming their urban friends of tomorrow. Born out of love, undefined, this is smart. (China Economic Network reporter Zhang Yi)