"Domestic smart" listed, grown up elves, and did there ever be a reiki?

Ten years ago, I was a teenager who had never been in the world. By chance, I saw Smart's creative ads online. In this advertisement, Kobe Bryant, a basketball player who is nearly two meters tall, easily sat in the Smart ForTwo car and flexibly shuttled through the streets of New York...

Since then, the smart ForTwo little guy has deeply shocked me, and the deep impression it left has been lingering in my mind for a long time...

Indeed, the Smart car is very distinctive, although its handling is not friendly enough, the price is very high, but with that quirk, it can gain a lot of fans around the world, and harvest 150,000 units of excellent sales.

However, with more and more cars with distinctive personalities, Smart is gradually no longer popular and gradually fades out of the market in 2019.

It is said that nostalgia is better than seeing each other, after nearly three years of separation, Smart has returned to our sights again under the name of "Smart Genie #1"...

This elf, dare you ask if you are fat?

First of all, today's Smart Genie #1 seems to be no longer the small, silly car we are familiar with. In the days of a few years apart, this little guy seems to be "eating the sea plug", and after returning, he is bigger!

If you look at it from the eye rim alone, it's hard to associate it with the former Smart, except that the logo is the same as the former Smart. Looking at it horizontally and vertically, it all presents a strong "Mercedes-Benz atmosphere", just like the entry-level models in the Mercedes-Benz EQ series.

In fact, the current Smart, at the level of blood genes, is also different from the Smart of that year.

The origins of Smart originated in the 1990s. The car brand was created by swiss watchmaker Swatch and German car manufacturer Daimler, and in the word "Smart", "S" represents Sworth, "M" represents Mercedes, and "ART" is a symbol of art.

Thus, after the combination of strong and powerful, a small and exquisite, fashionable mini car was born.

Today, though, the identity of Smart Genie #1 has changed. After Geely acquired a large number of shares in the Daimler Group, Geely naturally had the "right to speak". As a result, Geely provided a car-making platform, Mercedes-Benz provided the vehicle design, Smart provided the logo and "fashion force", and today's new car was born.

If we look at it from the design level alone, in addition to still being rounded and still cute, it is difficult for us to see the design elements of the smart.

Mercedes-Benz, which has always liked the atmosphere, also provides a lot of atmospheric design for the Smart Genie #1 car, such as the front and rear tail lights of this car, which is in line with the design language of the new generation of Mercedes-Benz.

In the interior design, the new Smart Genie #1 abandons the sense of simplicity and plasticity, makes a lot of use of the interior design elements of Mercedes-Benz luxury models, and decorates itself with a more simple curved surface and a more cutting-edge technology style, which undoubtedly also raises its own value, making the pre-price of the new car reach 190,000-230,000 yuan.

Regarding the success of the design, the author does not make up his mind here. The only thing that can be said is that this Smart Genie #1 has become larger, with a body length of 4270mm and a wheelbase of 2750mm, making it more fitable and practical. As for whether young hipsters can still accept this "Smart logo hybrid Mercedes", we believe the market will give the answer. After all, the aesthetic trends of each era are different.

Geely is in charge, what other changes has Smart changed?

In addition to the drastic changes at the design level, the new Smart brand has also made changes in the core.

Let's pull back the timeline back a few years ago, when the Smart had a small, compact and personal look, but the car didn't seem to be for the driver.

The ultra-small displacement engine provided by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, coupled with the devastating tuning of the engine system, the Smart could not save its control even if it had a rear-drive layout and a four-wheel four-corner design. Even if Babos modified it in all directions, he could not suppress the little guy's explosive temper, it was very difficult to open...

At that time, everyone was very demanding about the handling of the vehicle.

"Can yan value be eaten as a meal?"

"Obviously not!"

"Then why did I buy Smart?" Buy MINI it doesn't smell good? ”

As a result, Smart's sales are getting smaller and smaller, and the models of this brand have become a burden to the Daimler Group.

Continue to develop new cars, improve quality, Daimler is lacking in skills; the Smart brand is directly abandoned, after all, this brand has more than ten or twenty years of accumulation, it is a pity to lose. Smart, thus reduced to chicken ribs.

Just when Daimler was at a loss, the "receiver" Geely car appeared. In 2019, Geely Automobile acquired a 50% stake in the Smart brand and started the road to transformation. In this regard, Smart has turned from a fuel vehicle brand to a pure electric car brand.

Of course, Geely is not willing to be a "takeover man", but very carefully made a plan for Smart to turn around. In today's Smart Genie #1 car, we can get a glimpse of one or two.

First of all, at the core technical level, Geely "proudly" gave the SEA Haohan platform to Smart, you know, the SEA Haohan platform is Geely's most advanced intelligent electric vehicle platform. Geely's emphasis on Smart and its determination to turn the tables can be imagined.

The SEA platform has also brought a lot of new optimizations to Smart Genie #1.

For example, in the exclusive platform for electric vehicles, new cars can further utilize the space inside the car, continuing the tradition of smart four wheels and four corners. On the new car, although the length is only 4270mm, the wheelbase reaches 2750mm, which is even more magical than the "space magician"...

For another example, the SEA Haohan platform also has a hand in the technology of three electricity. According to the current official information, Smart Genie #1 can have a maximum NEDC range of 560 kilometers, and the zero hundred acceleration time is shortened to 6.7 seconds...

In addition to the improvement of hard power, the SEA Haohan platform, as the exclusive platform for intelligent pure electric vehicle models, also has sufficient accumulation in intelligent systems. In the new Smart Genie #1, from the intelligent cockpit to the intelligent driver assistance system, it can also fully adapt to the rhythm of the current era.

It can be seen that after Geely took over smart, it has carried out a full range of optimization and upgrading of the brand's models, and it can be seen that Geely has spent a lot of thought in it. However, after comprehensive optimization, is the new Smart brand image competitive enough in the current pure electricity market? Will it be the next?

"Bye bye, I don't play the old routine anymore"

In fact, from the perspective of the smart brand in today's various situations, after Geely entered the ownership, it has changed not only the design and core technology of the vehicle. More importantly, the core positioning of the Smart brand has also achieved a comprehensive change.

In the past, Smart's models were very typical "private cars", which were suitable for hipster men and women in the city.

But today, there are simply not too many mini cars on the market. In China alone, there are products such as Hongguang MINI EV, Chery Ant, and Zero Run T03 that are cheap and not lowly personalized. If Smart continues to compete according to the old routine, it may only end up on a "road of no return".

Today, Geely has helped Smart improve practicality and intrinsic quality, and Mercedes-Benz has brought a more luxurious texture. It is foreseeable that Smart's future competitors are models such as the "electric MINI" jointly produced by Great Wall and BMW, and even euler models in the domestic camp.

If we refer to the strength of the vehicle product, Smart Genie #1 still has a certain competitiveness, leaving aside geely's platform, just the appearance and interior style created by Mercedes-Benz for it, it has enough "style", which will be very popular in the female market. As for the only question for consumers, it may be "Why is my Smart so big?" Forget it, look at the face of Mercedes-Benz design, it can also be accepted."

Although, at present, Smart Genie #1 is still in the pre-sale stage, and the pricing is relatively high. However, rich consumers waited too long for smart, and on the first day after the new car was booked, it received 10,000 units of sales. As for whether this sales figure is doped with moisture, we don't know, and the final market performance of this car will give us the answer.

epilogue

Having said so much, we have one thing to be sure of: whether it is Geely or Mercedes-Benz, they really understand Chinese consumers too well, and the needs of domestic users are pinched to death.

A more practical, more luxurious, better open Smart is in front of you, who cares what the Smart once looked like? Big deal, just when it's a brand new joint venture brand, but also a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz! Such a brand, sales may not be too low.