2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Cabriolet With 13k Orig Miles on 2040-cars

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Mercedes-Benz may create electric-only brand

Daimler's Mercedes-Benz division may follow in fellow German automaker BMW's footsteps by launching its own separate brand for electric vehicles, Hybrid Cars says, citing German publication Handelsblatt, which quoted people familiar with the process. Daimler's board may make the decision to go ahead with the plan as early next month. And the brand may officially be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September. Unlike BMW and the i brand, Mercedes would use its existing factories to produce the newly-branded vehicles instead of operating out of a separate one as the i brand does. The first vehicle under the brand is likely to be an SUV model based on the Mercedes-Benz GLC crossover vehicle and would start sales next year. The product line would be broadened further in 2020. Daimler declined to comment, according to Handelsblatt. Mercedes-Benz and BMW wouldn't be the only two German automakers with plans for more electric vehicle sales. Volkswagen has a plan to unleash as many as 20 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids to the public by 2020, including the Phaeton and the Audi A8. On that note, reports surfaced last month that VW may build its own "Gigafacory" as it prepares to widen its plug-in vehicle push and bring down their costs. As for US sales, Smart sold 313 ForTwo Electric vehicles, down 43 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, BMW's i sales in the US fell 40 percent from a year earlier to 2,723. Currently, Mercedes-Benz's only two electric vehicles are the Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and the Smart ForTwo Electric two-seat vehicle. In the meantime, take a look at Autoblog's First Drive of the B-Class Electric. Related Video: News Source: Handelsblatt, Hybrid Cars Green Mercedes-Benz smart Electric

Smart Fortwo Brabus drops most of its camo

When we drove the new Smart Fortwo last month, we were impressed at how peppy and darty it felt – especially in turbo spec. But that was just enough to whet our appetites for an even sportier version, and fortunately that appears to be just what Daimler is cooking up right now. This latest batch of spy shots gives us an even better look at the Brabus version of the new Fortwo under development. As you can see, it has upgraded rolling stock sitting on a lower (and presumably sportier) suspension with dual tailpipes and what could even be some enhanced aero components. Here's hoping the production version doesn't match an orange interior to a red body like this prototype does, though the bigger question is what it's got not under the hood, but beneath the rear cargo shelf where the existing Fortwo has a choice of three-cylinder engines. As we reported earlier, the new Smart Fortwo Brabus is tipped to pack as much as 130 horsepower, but in what form, exactly, we don't know. It could come from an enhanced version of the 898cc turbo three in the current range-topping Fortwo, maybe a turbo version of the larger atmospheric 1.0-liter inline-three, or a different engine entirely – like a 1.2 sourced from Renault. Either way, the decision was likely made jointly by Daimler and Renault, which is expected to offer a similarly sporty version of the Twingo as well.

2015 Smart ForFour caught in early testing

In the U.S., we've come to know the Smart brand just for its ForTwo, but other markets have seen a wider variety of models from the Daimler brand including the Smart ForFour that was produced from 2004 through 2006. This bigger vehicle from Smart added two extra doors and a rear seat for some passenger space. While we've already seen spy photos for the next ForTwo, judging by these spy shots of a stretched-wheelbase test mule, Smart is hard at work developing a next-generation ForFour as well.
Although the previous ForFour was a result of a collaboration between Daimler and Mitsubishi, the new model is going to be a venture between Daimler and Nissan/Renault. Under the Penske ownership, it was announced that the new Smart B-segment car would be based on the Nissan Micra (which was later scrapped), but we hear that this car will actually ride on a new platform that will eventually be the basis for the next Renault Twingo. Like the current and upcoming ForTwo, the 2015 ForFour will be a rear-engine/rear-wheel-drive car.
While we don't have any information as to what will power the new Smart ForFour, we can almost guarantee that it (along with the new ForTwo) will have a styling that will be very similar to recent Smart concept cars like the ForStars, For-Us and ForVision. The new ForTwo is expected to go on sale in 2014 with the bigger ForFour hitting dealers a year later.