I know this isn’t theSMARTscoop.com, but I love the Smart and since the news involves Piaggio and Suzuki… I say it’s “scooter news”
Smart to be sold to scooter-maker? – 4Car News from Channel 4: “Piaggio may not be the only potential buyer, either. Suzuki is also reported to have shown an interest, as has India’s Tata Motors. Suzuki has denied these claims, however, and DaimlerChrysler continues to deny that it is considering selling Smart at all. CEO Dieter Zetsche reiterated at the Detroit Motor Show that he intended to make Smart profitable by 2007 and that the brand was not for sale. The official line on the involvement of Goldman Sachs is that the company was engaged to act as a ‘buffer zone’ and filter ‘unsolicited requests’ to buy Smart. However, Zetsche admitted that ‘we would be open for potential partnerships,’ or joint ventures with other firms.
Analysts have commented that the most difficult prospect Smart faces is the closure of the Hambach plant, saying that the brand will only become profitable if production is moved to a cheaper country. The move will be prohibitively expensive, however, due to European labour legislation and required redundancy payouts to the plant’s unionised workers. This could make a joint venture option, with another manufacturer sharing the production costs, a more likely scenario.”
Piaggio doesn’t wanna buy? DaimlerChrysler isn’t gonna sell? Then what’s up with all the press?
24. January 2006 at 9:25 pm
Never in the US – has four wheels and would need to meet auto crash tests, etc. – thus, it would never be sold here.
http://www.smart.com/smart_uk/smart_uk_start.html
It seems that there are different classifications in the EU, for example, what we condiser to be off-road “four-wheelers” can be driven on the street with the proper equipment.
http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/Vehicles/InTheNews/PolarisRevolverConcept.htm
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24. January 2006 at 10:47 pm
BREAKING NEWS!
Honda Releases the New Monpal ML200 4-Wheel Scooter
“Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has announced the release of the new Monpal ML200, a stylish 4-wheel scooter with a comfortable ride and high maneuvering stability that delivers easy, carefree operation.”
http://world.honda.com/news/2006/p060123NewMonpal/
24. January 2006 at 10:54 pm
Hey Dudel! Your the big scoop snooper today, eh?
I saw that too, but since it was a “mobility scooter”, I didn’t add it. It is pretty though. I’d get one when I’m 70. Hehe.
25. January 2006 at 3:32 am
Regarding quads and ATV sold as road-legal in Europe (I’m European BTW), there is one major legal technicality that’s often been overlooked when discussing them: a road legal quadricycle (2 or 4-wheel drive) has to have a max power of 18 hp, according to EU law. So, basically, anything over 400 cc is wasted displacement in the EU.
30. January 2006 at 4:39 pm
Those are pretty sweet. I saw them in Europe. What I didn’t see in Europe were any massive trucks like we have in the states. I can’t imagine one of these trucks smashing a Smart…would probably propel it into the next county.