Smart confirmed for Aussie return

A resurgent Smart has confirmed it will “definitely” return to the Australian market in the near future with a range of new-generation battery-electric city-cars.

Global Smart spokesperson Sebastian Liu told carsales the micro-car brand’s Australian market reintroduction – after a hiatus of almost a decade – would be officially announced next Monday (May 27), suggesting the Smart #1 and #3 could arrive in local showrooms sooner than expected.

“Yes, we will definitely return to Australian market and bring our stunning new generation EV products to local customers,” said Liu.

Originally established in 1994 as a joint-venture between Mercedes-Benz and Swiss watch maker Swatch, the compact-car company was reinvented as Smart Automobile as part of a 50-50 JV between Mercedes-Benz and the Geely Group in 2019 – 12 months after Geely founder and chairman Li Shufu took a majority 9.69 per cent stake in the wider Mercedes-Benz Auto Group (formerly Daimler AG).

At the same time, Smart became an EV-only brand with pint-size electric cars engineered and manufactured in China by Geely, designed by Mercedes-Benz and sold only in the UK, Europe and Japan.

In 2019 it released battery-electric versions of the third-generation ForTwo two-seater and ForFour four-seater hatchbacks, which were first launched in 2015 with combustion engines.

But the focus quickly turned to developing the new Chinese-built Smart #1 and its sleeker Smart #3 counterpart, both of which are now sold globally and almost certain to come to Australia.

However, it’s yet to be confirmed how Smart cars will be imported and distributed Down Under, given a spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz Australia declined to comment in detail on the matter but confirmed Smart’s re-entry into the local market would not take place via Mercedes-Benz.

carsales understands that neither fellow Geely sister brands Volvo nor Polestar are involved, and that LSH Auto Australia – the country’s biggest Mercedes-Benz retailer – will be the Smart custodian here.

The Melbourne-based firm owns 11 Mercedes-Benz outlets across Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, including the biggest Benz dealerships in each city, and in 2021 turned over more than 12,000 new and used vehicles.

LSH Auto International, meantime, is the world’s biggest Mercedes-Benz dealer group, in which Mercedes-Benz AG owns a 15 per cent share.

Smart was axed in Australia in 2015 due to slow sales, having sold less than 4500 vehicles since 2003 – including about 3500 ForTwos over two generations and a much smaller number of Roadsters and ForFours – and becoming an online-only brand in mid-2013.

But the new-generation Smart #1 and #3 would arrive here in a more receptive EV market with purchasing incentives in most states, albeit alongside at least 12 other new Chinese brands due Down Under in the next 18 months.

Both models are underpinned by the same Geely SEA platform as the recently-released Volvo EX30 and upcoming Zeekr X compact SUV.

Measuring just 4.27m long, the Smart #1 plays to the traditional (boxy) SUV recipe, while the #3 is an ‘SUV coupe’ in the ilk of the Renault Arkana and Volvo C40.

In Europe, the former is offered with the choice of a 49kWh battery pack or a bigger 66kWh unit, both single-motor and dual-motor drivetrains, and a maximum WLTP range of up to 440km (single-motor, 66kWh).

The latter follows exactly the same recipe but boasts a longer range thanks to its slipperier silhouette.

Power outputs for both models vary between a healthy 200kW/343Nm and 315kW/584Nm – identical to the EX30 – and their battery packs can be charged at up to 150kW when using a DC fast-charger.

In Germany, the Smart #1 is priced from 37,490 Euros ($A61,240) and the #1 costs just 1000 Euros more.

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