Smart seeks partners for new ForTwo EV minicar

Smart is looking for partners to develop and build a successor to its iconic ForTwo two-seat city car, a company executive said.

Production of the third-generation ForTwo ended on March 28 in a former Mercedes-Benz plant in Hambach, France, that is now owned by the British SUV-maker Ineos Automotive.

The launch date of a ForTwo successor, set to be called #2, or “Hashtag 2,” is still uncertain, Dirk Adelmann, the CEO of Smart Europe, said in a video conference last week.

Smart, once a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, is now a 50-50 joint venture with Geely Group of China. New models, which include the full-electric #1 small crossover and the #3 compact crossover, are based on Geely’s SEA architecture and built in China.

“Two months ago, we began working on a new, dedicated platform to underpin a future Smart two-seat city car, but we need partners to make its business case feasible,” Adelman said.

Smart looked to existing electric platforms that could have been shortened for a two-seat model between 2.7 meters and 2.8 meters long , but would still offer high safety standards and a premium feel, but found none, he said.

“We want to stick to four- or five-star crash test rating on the Euro NCAP, to ADAS functionalities like in our #1 and #3, to have a decent range,” Adelmann said. “Definitely we have to develop a platform, because unfortunately it does not exist yet.”

After talks with several European automakers, including Renault, many Chinese OEMs and some contract manufacturers, Smart decided to go it alone and in February began working on a new dedicated architecture called Electric Compact Architecture (ECA). 

If approved for production, ECA will be a Smart-owned and developed platform, Adelmann said.

Smart launched its first ForTwo in 1998, followed by a second generation in 2006 and a third in 2014.

The outgoing ForTwo was still Smart’s best-seller in Europe in the first two months of the year, with 2,022 sales, a 28 percent decline over the same period in 2023.

Smart’s new electric models trail the ForTwo in Europe. The #1 sold 1,856 units through February and the recently launched #3 sold 655 units, figures from Dataforce show.

The ForFour, a sister model to the Renault Twingo built by the French automaker in its factory in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, was discontinued in late 2021.

In its peak years, sales of the first generation, combustion-engine-only ForTwo reached 140,000 units a year, with its biggest markets being in Southern Europe.

Smart declined to discuss potential volumes and launch date for the #2, but Adelman said that buyers and dealers were looking for a new model that will keep the traditional ForTwo’s compactness and maneuverability, coupled with an electric powertrain and state-of-the-art connectivity.

“We would love to make this car happen not only from my perspective, but if you ask customers, if you ask our retailers, they would all love to have a future two-seater in the lineup,” Adelmann said.

There are no other two-seaters available in Europe homologated as passenger cars. Electric two-seaters such as the Citroen Ami and its Fiat and Opel siblings, as well as microcars such as the Microlino, are classified as quadricycles, which have to comply with lesser safety and technical requirements.