New-chapter Smart abandons its roots and goes after style-conscious EV buyers instead
Handsome though it undoubtedly is, the Smart #3 is the kind of car to make you wonder just what its reimagined manufacturer is really all about.Funnily enough, if you’d have asked me while I was still at the wheel, I’m fairly sure I’d have been none the wiser; but, with the benefit of a little detached perspective, it’s becoming clearer which direction ‘The New Smart’ – the brand as refounded in 2019, and co-funded by Mercedes-Benz and Chinese car-industry giant Geely – is headed off in.Clearly, this is no longer the maker of innovative microcars it once was. Hasn’t been for decades, you might say; and, from a business perspective at the very least, that may not be such a bad thing. Still, if you were on a mission to show the world that you had the same fearless spirit that fathered the most bold and singular small car of the last half century, this just isn’t what you’d do.We might let them off the decision to kickstart the revival with an all-electric compact crossover SUV (the Smart #1). Sooner or later, they’ll need to sell some cars, after all. But to move next to a larger, lower, more expensive and more desirable mid-sized ‘SUV Coupe’-cum-hatchback like the #3 – a rival for anything from a Polestar 2 to a Volvo C40 Recharge, to a Tesla Model 3 or even a Cupra Born – hardly says “I’m innovative”, does it? It hardly says “pick me, I’m different”.Right now, where mid-sized EVs are concerned, I’m not sure we even know what different looks like – but this certainly isn’t it.
