Saturday, June 03, 2006

Smart Gains Ground in Canada, Loses Everywhere Else

June 1, 2006 by Dan Fritter / American Auto Press
Canadian Sales Up, Worldwide Sales Plummet
Unless youve been living under a rock for the past few months, youve probably heard of a book and/or movie called "The Da Vinci Code." Dealing equally with the works of Leonardo himself (Da Vinci means of the town of Vinci, after all) as well as most Christian religions, the book and corresponding movie have caused quite a debate about the role of religion in todays society. But even more importantly (ahem...), Tom Hanks, the star of the movie that opened to gross $224 million bucks worldwide, drives a smart car in it.

Strangely enough, while Mercedes-Benz is still undecided as two whether the smart will make it Stateside, Canadians seem to have a growing penchant for the diesel-sipping (the cars single most redeeming quality) plastic-bodied wonders, and Canadian smart sales in April soared... relatively. While the rest of the world was turning their back on the perky microcars we were buying them in droves, with 11 percent more fortwo coupes and cabriolets leaving Canadian dealership floors so far this year month than did last year. Thankfully, that 11 percent increase correlates to meager 44 more smarts on the road than last year, which in turn correlates into a total yearly fuel consumption increase of 185.4 gallons, nationwide, on average.

Read full story here.

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