Mercedes-Benz and Geely worked together to create smart genie #1 as promised.
On April 25, smart genie #1 took the lead in opening pre-sales in China, launching pro+ and premium models, with pre-sale prices of 190,000 yuan and 230,000 yuan respectively after the subsidy of new cars.
Compared with when it first entered the Chinese market more than a decade ago, the smart in memory has undergone earth-shaking changes at this time: two doors have become four doors, and the micro Coupe has grown into a compact SUV, and the new one is very thorough. The "grown-up" smart has a strong competitiveness in its space performance in the same class, especially the wheelbase, and even the body width is 2 mm wider than the current Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Thanks to the pure electric platform architecture and the characteristics of the rear-drive car, smart genie #1 has the same storage space as Tesla in the front trunk, the second row of seats in the four or six down, the trunk space can be expanded to 986 liters, with 3.3 kilowatts of reverse power supply function, smart genie #1 is enough to set off some waves in the hearts of young people who catch the camping trend.
If you explain this new from a design point of view, it is what the chief designer of smart said, "(It) is cooler, more mature." Frameless doors on smart genie #1, a 12.8-inch central control screen, 64-color mood lights, matte metallic panels, a beats sound system with thirteen speakers... In order to attract the young people of Generation Z, Smart has used its charm.
After the renovation, Smart will compete in the mass market as a new luxury pure electric technology brand. Everything is steadily moving forward according to the plan set by Geely and Mercedes-Benz three years ago. Although it is very different from the image of smart in people's memory, Tong Xiangbei, CEO of smart brand global company, told reporters, "It (smart) just grew up like a child, better, and nothing else has changed." ”
In his opinion, "(smart pair) the pursuit of exploring the best solutions for urban mobility in the future has never changed". The name smart is actually a combination of words, derived from "Swatch-Mercedes-ART", at that time, the car full of enthusiasm for Swatch met Mercedes-Benz after going through twists and turns, because with the same dream, smart was born in 1994, in the era when mini cars were very rare, through smart, Mercedes-Benz and Swatch together opened up a new possibility for urban travel.
"Unrestricted" and "not defined" have thus become a spirit of the brand, and the new generation of smart, as Tong Xiangbei said, is still exploring the best solution for future mobility.
For example, "the ADAS intelligent driving assistance system that matches the highest technical level in the industry" and "the intelligent cockpit supported by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 intelligent cockpit chip", as well as the "mileage worry-free" realized after the motor equipped with the silicon carbide power module...
Regardless of the surprise or disappointment of the changed smart, smart genie #1 still received enthusiastic attention "within expectations". According to the brand, twenty-four hours after the opening of the small order, the number of orders received by smart genie #1 has exceeded 10,000. Tong Xiangbei said that he is very confident in sales, but, rather than sales figures, they are more interested in the long-term flow of a brand, and "ensuring a sustainable and profitable business model" is the goal of smart after growth.
In fact, the smart that existed as a two-door car, although it was in the limelight, did not earn a penny for mercedes in its limited life. In the two decades before encountering Geely, Smart has been losing money, and some media reports have said, "Until the announcement of the suspension of fuel vehicles in 2019, Daimler's cumulative loss on Smart has totaled 4 billion euros."
This is probably the most important reason why smarts "get bigger". In order to achieve a sustainable long-term development strategy, this time the brand has thought very thoroughly. To put it simply, the product side should always maintain its attractiveness to the Z generation crowd, Tong Xiangbei said: "Which market segment they want to go to, what kind of product market services they need, we will go where we go and create a future with them."
At the same time, after the renovation of smart, "to build its own multi-matrix product family series, it is definitely not the era of only one smart fortwo car before." In addition, on the channel side, Smart will adopt the "D2C direct sales agency business model" in China and Europe, the world's two largest new energy markets, and with the support of Geely and Mercedes-Benz's existing strong networks, smart business territory in Europe, China and even Southeast Asia can expand faster than imagined.
If all goes well, Smart Genie #1 will be delivered to the first users in the fourth quarter of this year. "We are very confident in the development of smart in China's new energy market, and firmly believe that the new smart genie #1 can quickly open up the situation in the new energy market and gain the recognition of the market and users." Tong Xiangbei said so.