USA Today has a piece announcing that Smart cars-the tiny vehicle ubiqituous in Europe that launched Stateside in the summer-are sitting in the lots. Combine the recession with a dropping of gas prices, and people are less interested in buying Smarts. Or are they?The actual article, in typical trend piece fashion, doesn't really back up the claims of the first paragraph. Yes, some people are asking for their fully refundable $99 deposit back and not buying the car, but Smart's business model involves keeping virtually no cars on their lots, so it only takes a few rejects to start them "sitting in those lots." The cars are moving, on average, in 28 days. The industry average (thanks, one would imagine to a lot of SUVs no one wants anymore) is 95 days.What people seem to not understand-as if their brain resets every year-is that the price gas is going to go up again in the summer, like it does every summer, and then they will want their Smart cars. For a few months, you wont be able to turn your head without seeing a frantic journalist ask if we will have $4-gallon gas forever (it will probably happen on this very site, even). Then, around September, gas prices will drop, and we'll all forget about it until next summer.Maybe you want to buck the trend and buy a Smart car? You can do it here.
USA Today has a piece announcing that Smart cars-the tiny vehicle ubiqituous in Europe that launched Stateside in the summer-are sitting in the lots. Combine the recession with a dropping of gas prices, and people are less interested in buying Smarts. Or are they?The actual article, in typical trend piece fashion, doesn't really back up the claims of the first paragraph. Yes, some people are asking for their fully refundable $99 deposit back and not buying the car, but Smart's business model involves keeping virtually no cars on their lots, so it only takes a few rejects to start them "sitting in those lots." The cars are moving, on average, in 28 days. The industry average (thanks, one would imagine to a lot of SUVs no one wants anymore) is 95 days.What people seem to not understand-as if their brain resets every year-is that the price gas is going to go up again in the summer, like it does every summer, and then they will want their Smart cars. For a few months, you wont be able to turn your head without seeing a frantic journalist ask if we will have $4-gallon gas forever (it will probably happen on this very site, even). Then, around September, gas prices will drop, and we'll all forget about it until next summer.Maybe you want to buck the trend and buy a Smart car? You can do it here.