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Chicago Car2Go app reportedly hacked, some 100 cars missing

Car2Go launched in Chicago in the summer of 2018, with 400 Daimler cars rolled out on the Windy City streets soon after. But that big fleet just took a big hit: The car-sharing app has now reportedly been hacked, and some 100 cars have been stolen as a result. CBS Chicago is reporting that some of the missing cars have been used to commit crimes. It is yet unclear what the hacking has exactly enabled the perps to do, but the compromised app appears to have opened the doors and given the thieves free rein with easily stolen cars. Within Chicago, there is a 29 square mile area where the vehicles were supposed to be dropped off, but they haven't been limited from exiting that zone at any point. The Chicago Car2Go fleet started out with Smart ForTwo cars and bigger Mercedes-Benz CLA/GLA models; we can imagine the ForTwos are a touch slight for any ram raiding, but an escape car that can vanish in a crowd of other shared Smart cars seems handy for misuse. To address the matter, Car2Go froze its Chicago operations today, saying it is "neutralizing a fraud issue and working together with law enforcement." No personal or confidential user info is said to have been compromised. CBS Chicago's Brad Edwards tweeted today that 12 people have been taken into custody so far, with the story developing as we speak.

Smart will show new electric concept in Paris

Smart, the Daimler-Benz city car brand, is 20 years old. Its first product, the City-Coupe was presented in fall 1998, based on earlier concepts designed in tandem with the Swiss watchmaker Swatch. The two decades have seen Smart produce different cars such as low-slung roadsters and four-door Forfours based on Mitsubishi running gear, but the tall and short city car is what Smart has always been about. The new concept, called Forease, retains the "classic" Smart appearance, just restyled for the next decade. The completely roofless Forease resembles an earlier limited-edition Smart production version, the slightly sandal-like 2002 Crossblade, but it's a fully electric vehicle unlike the Crossblade; later on in 2011, Smart also showed an electric concept called Forspeed. The Smart brand is turning electric-only in 2020, and the concept will herald that era. From 2017 on, Smart has already started selling solely electric cars in the U.S., Canada and Norway. According to the manufacturer, the Forease concept itself is an "uncompromised" and "uncomplicated" urban mobility vehicle, with both a cut-down windshield and a cut steering wheel. There are roll hoops behind the seats, molded into the rear structure. There is no roof at all, not even a temporary hardtop, so the HVAC system has been removed and the dashboard's vents have been filled in with extra displays. "The Smart Forease is proof that Smart thinks unconventionally. Its design is reduced and pure," said Gorden Wagener, Daimler AG's chief design officer. Related Video:

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.