Germany’s Smart car brand has joined forces with United Auto Group Inc., with the two companies reaching a deal on bringing the two-seat Smart Fortwo minicar to the US by early 2008. Currently, all Smart cars delivered to the US have been private “grey” market imports. The three-cylinder Fortwo achieves fuel economy of 40mpg and is expected to cost less than $15,000. A second generation Smart car is currently in development and it would be highly likely that this model will be sold officially in the US as well.
Back in June, DaimlerChrysler announced that it wanted to make the small cars available through dealership holding company United Auto Group, and were planning to setup a dedicated network for the brand. We can confirm that Mercedes’ Car Group President Ulrich Walker has signed a general distributor agreement with United Auto Chairman Roger Penske on Wednesday.
