Smart to debut larger #3 model at Shanghai auto show

BRESCIA, Italy – Smart’s second new model will be a compact, full-electric coupe-styled, crossover that will debut at the Shanghai auto show on April 17, go on sale in China by the end of the year and arrive in Europe in early 2024.

Smart Europe CEO Dirk Adelmann told Automotive News Europe that the #3 (“hashtag 3”), as it will be called, will be “bigger, roomier and sportier” than the #1, a small electric SUV that is just now reaching dealers and customers in Europe. 

Smart, which is an electric-only, 50-50 joint venture between Mercedes Benz Cars and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China, will launch a new model a year until 2027, when it will have a range of five or six models, Adelmann said on the sidelines of a dealer event here.

He added that Smart is reserving the #2 designation for a future minicar that could eventually replace the ForTwo minicar. The two-seat citycar will continue to be built until spring 2024 in Hambach, eastern France, in a factory that Mercedes-Benz sold to the UK off-road startup Ineos Automotive in December 2022.

Adelmann said that the #3, at about 4400 mm long, is a proper compact model, while the #1, at 4270 mm, sits between small and compact crossovers. Automotive News Europe classifies the #1 as a small crossover in its market segmentation.

In November 2022, the design and dimensions of the Smart #3 leaked in China where the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requires manufacturers to provide photos and data of the vehicles before selling them domestically.

According to information leaked in China at that time, the #3 is about 4400 mm long, 1800 mm wide and 1600 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2785 mm. 

That makes it similar in size to the Volkswagen ID4, which is 4584 mm long, 1852 mm wide and 1637 mm tall.

Compared to the #1, the #3 is 130 mm longer and sits on a 35 mm longer wheelbase that increases rear legroom.

In leaked pictures, the #3 clearly resembles the design of the #1, with a similar front fascia and a headlamp-to-headlamp light bar. In the rear, the roof is more steeply raked than its smaller counterpart's.

The #3 will share with the #1 and other coming smart models Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform. The modular EV platform will also underpin cars from Geely-owned Volvo Cars and Lynk & CO, as well as other Geely-associated brands.

The #3 is expected to be fitted with a choice of two powertrains with similar power outputs to the smaller #1.

The #1 has a 66 kilowatt-hour battery, with the standard model fitted with a 200 kW (272 hp) motor on the rear axle delivering up to 440 km (273 miles) of range under the WLTP cycle. The sportier Brabus variant adds a 156 hp motor on the front axle; this all-wheel-drive model delivers a 400 km range.

Adelmann said that COVID-related lockdowns in Shanghai at the end of last year affected #1 production ramp up, and the company had to revise the timing of the model's roll out in Europe.

Smart’s supplier base is in and around Shanghai, and the shutdowns in that area affected Smart production heavily, he said.

In January, Smart opened orders in Germany only. There are 3,500 nonbinding pre-orders, but just 700 units have been produced and are in transit to be delivered to customers. First deliveries began in mid-March.

To shorten the waiting period from order to delivery, Smart has delayed opening orders in France, Italy and Spain to June from March. Other selected European markets, including the U.K., will follow from September.

Adelmann said it takes Smart three months from producing a #1 in its plant in Xi’an, China, to deliver it to  European customers. Shipping alone takes six weeks.

Smart declined to give a sales prediction for Europe. The brand's peak volume was in 2006, with around 130,000 units sold in the region.

Ossuama Kaddoura, a Paris-based dealer and president of the ASP (Smart Partner Association) said his group expects each new Smart model to sell 20,000 to 25,000 units in Europe and that by 2027 the 2006 peak volume could be easily exceeded.

Last year, Smart sold 21,156 cars in Europe, a 42 percent decline from 2021, when it sold 36,609 units. The electric ForTwo EQ accounted for 17,333 sales, with the now discontinued ForFour EQ four-seater accounting for 3,585 units, figures from Dataforce show. There were 248 #1s registered, mainly as dealer demonstration units.

The #3 will join a small but growing list of full-electric models in the compact SUV segment, including mainstream contenders from VW Group such as the ID4 and the Cupra Born sibling model; the Nissan Ariya and future Renault Scenic; as well as the next-generation Peugeot 3008 from Stellantis.