Business smarts 31: City Flitz

Rent some CityFlitz wheels for $1/Day!

Toronto: CityFlitz is the brand-new lifestyle advertising company. We use fleets of fuel-efficient and cool MINI Coopers, MINI Cooper Clubmans, Smart cars, VW Beetles and Toyota Prius as trendy mobile billboards. Advertisers sponsor the car rental rate when we wrap the cars in attention grabbing brand graphics. This is why we can rent out our cars to you for a sensational $1 per Day!

iPhone fizzles at Toronto Autoshow

To Toronto Autoshow where a girl on the smart stand has been hired to take competition entries on an iPhone. After two failed attempts she gives up. We can enter the competition via the web at home, but the system fails to take our entry. We'd like to win the smart car, a prize celebrating the tenth anniversary of the car, but our chances are slim it seems.
The show is generally very quiet on the Thursday, particularly in the Skydome, and experienced stand staff point to reduced attendance and less "buzz" compared to previous years. Every manufacturer is trying to adopt a green pose but with little real justification. For example the Saturn Astra needs a diesel option, like its European counterpart. Hybrids and EVs were everywhere, but you have to wonder about the potential market for these cars. The third-generation Toyota Prius was on show with a Pontiac Aztec like rear-end. I've yet to be convinced that the Prius has ever turned a profit. An example of the electric car trend is the Mitsubishi MiEV shown below.

Words and pics by RLT.

Business smarts 30: Edinburgh Flats

http://www.edinburghflats.co.uk/

Photo taken while on holiday in Edinburgh, Christmas Day, 2008.

Happy Christmas from SCOOT

We received this greeting from Edward Garcia,
our salesman at smart centre, Mississauga.

Small European Cars Shine

A Diminutive Trio Manage to Skirt the Global Decline in Sales

By LEILA ABBOUD
There's a bright spot amid the global automobile sector's gloom: Sales of small, chic European cars -- Daimler AG's Smart, Fiat SpA's 500, and BMW AG's Mini Cooper --have grown this year.
The three have common traits that likely are sparking their success: trendy design, a high-end image and fuel efficiency. The cars' popularity shows how, even in a tough economic climate, consumers still can be enticed to buy cars that are perceived as special enough to make a lifestyle statement about their owners.
"These cars have enormous emotional appeal," says John Lawson, a Citigroup automobile analyst in London. "But as products, they also hit consumers' priorities on fuel economy and style on the head, so they are selling well."
To be sure, sales of niche models won't save the ailing automobile sector. Car sales have plummeted since August as consumers spooked by a looming global recession delay spending on big-ticket items. The credit crunch also has made it harder for some people to secure loans to buy cars. To cope, many car makers are closing factories temporarily to keep vehicle supply in line with demand. Companies such as France's Renault SA, Germany's Volkswagen AG and General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in the U.S. are lobbying for government aid to help them weather the financial crisis.
Read full article here.

smart USA Delivers 20,000th smart fortwo in the United States

Innovative Vehicle Reaches Significant Sales Milestone in Less Than Ten Months

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., (Oct. 31, 2008) – smart USA Distributor LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Automotive Group, Inc., (NYSE: PAG), delivered the 20,000th smart fortwo at smart center Dallas, in Dallas, Texas. This sales milestone was accomplished in less than ten months from the initial sales launch of the vehicle in the United States.
“Hitting this landmark just ten months following sales launch proves that the smart fortwo is changing the landscape of America’s highways,” said Dave Schembri, president of smart USA. “More U.S. consumers are discovering that the fortwo is the right car at the right time, offering a high level of fuel efficiency, comfort, agility, safety and ecology.”
The smart fortwo continues to be an attractive vehicle solution for American consumers in our value-oriented, environmentally responsible society. It is the most fuel efficient, non-hybrid vehicle in the United States according to the 2009 EPA Fuel Economy Guide, achieving an average of 41 miles per gallon on the highway. The fortwo is also certified by the EPA as a “Smartway” vehicle, which indicates good environmental performance, placing it among the “greenest” vehicles on the market.
The 2009 model year smart fortwo will begin to arrive at dealerships for delivery to consumers the first week of November. The new model adds two additional color choices for its exterior interchangeable body panels with “rally” red, a color reminiscent of a fire truck, and metallic gray joining the color pallet. The vehicle has been on sale in the United States since January 2008, and is available at 73 smart centers in 35 states.
Further information about smart USA can be found at http://www.smartusa.com/.

Business smarts 29: Geoffrey Kilts, Edinburgh, Scotland

"Look smart in a kilt from geoffreykilts.co.uk"

Cars for Rent, From Almost Any Curb

Want to rent a Smart car for 19 cents a minute? Just flash your driver's licence at a device by the windshield, and off you go. That's the essence of a pilot project starting in the German city of Ulm on Friday.
Rain is crashing down and you are late for work. The bus is late and there's no taxi in sight. Why not rent a car? It sounds insane, but it will soon be possible for citizens of Ulm, the focus of a pilot project by Daimler, which wants to make car rental as "easy as using a mobile phone."
The company plans to make a fleet of 50 blue-striped Smart cars available in Ulm to customers who sign up for the project. It will work like car-sharing in Europe and North America, but without the designated parking spots: Customers can unlock a car using a driver's license outfitted with an electronic chip, then type in a PIN code, and drive off. When they're finished, the car can be almost left anywhere in Ulm, waiting for the next driver.

Read full article here.

No Battery Required

Smart is a contender in the economy stakes. Tested in the windy city.

Nissan Nuvu

ROLLE, Switzerland (Sept. 9, 2008) - A world premiere of a futuristic concept car and of an all-new production car, as well as a heavily revised version of an existing model will be the stars of Nissan's 2008 Paris Motor Show.
All the stars of the show share a philosophy of tackling the reality of mobility in and around the city, today, tomorrow and in the more distant future.
Nissan's vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, literally a 'new view' of the type of car we will be driving in the middle of the next decade. Compact - it's just 3 meters long - Nuvu is a concept vehicle with unique 2+1 seating. It is aimed at urban dwellers who don't want to compromise on their personal freedom or their comfort, yet who appreciate that there is a need for a dramatic change in the way we move around our cities.
Nuvu is an electric vehicle, is agile, easy to drive and even easier to park. Nissan has already announced plans to introduce an all-electric car in Japan and the US in 2010 and to mass-market it globally in 2012. Nuvu is not that car, though it does share some of the technology that will feature in the planned production vehicle.
Nuvu incorporates a witty representation of Nissan's green credentials: across its all-glass roof are a dozen or so small solar panels. Shaped like leaves on a branch, the power they generate is fed to the battery using a 'tree trunk' within the car as a conduit. Nuvu also uses natural, organic and recycled materials within the cabin.
Nuvu is compact on the outside yet roomy on the inside. Built on a unique platform, it sits on a wheelbase of 1980 mm but is 1700 mm wide and 1550 mm tall to create a large and airy cabin.
Read more here.

Electric vehicles spark at Paris car show

PARIS (AFP) — Carmarkers rolled out a slew of electric models at the Paris motor show Friday, with a view to filling dealer showrooms by 2012 when new European legislation on curbing emissions kicks in.
About a third of the new models presented at the show are "clean cars" that use "a little or a lot of electricity," said Francois Roudier of the French carmakers' group CCFA.
Big names like Germany's Daimler and lesser known entities such as France's Heuliez have shown all-electric models here, hoping to cash in on both the new regulations and consumer fears over soaring oil prices.
Some are still prototypes, like Renault's ZE Concept, which the company describes as a "socially-responsible vehicle," while others are already well into the test phase, like Daimler's Smart car, which is currently being trialed in a rental scheme for companies in London.
Carmakers are in a rush to get their models onto the market before new European Union legislation kicks in in 2012.
Read full story here.

Business smarts 28: Knights on Guard

KOG Protective Services is a 24-hour operation that guarantees rapid response when security concerns arise. Through our fully trained, professional Security Officers, Officer Support Units, Private Investigation Services and Security Consultation Services, we are confident that we can effectively meet all of your protection requirements.

Shared company cars are a smart idea

Businesses are starting to offer fuel efficient, communal vehicles as a benefit to employees and the environment
Alyn Edwards, Vancouver SunPublished: Friday, September 19, 2008
When Drew Geldart moved to Vancouver from Edinburgh, one of the most stressful decisions he faced was buying a car. He needed to get a job, find a home and get oriented in his new city. He needed transportation to do it.
He was greatly relieved when he signed on as sales and marketing coordinator for Karo Group -- a top branding agency in Western Canada that shapes brands through advertising, interactive, environments and communications design -- because one of the biggest, and most useful, perks was full use of the company car. Add to this, the car was eco-friendly which fit in with Geldart's environmental philosophy.
Karo Group bought a company Smart car last year. It made sense to have one fuel-efficient car that could be signed out by employees needing transportation for client visits and other purposes. But the company, a Best Workplaces in Canada award winner, went one step further allowing any employee to request the car for personal use.

Read full story here.

Smart produces one-millionth car

Hambach, France - Smart has built its one-millionth Fortwo at a time when the company is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Fortwo. The milestone car is a Micro Hybrid Drive in silver metallic and will be donated to charity.
“The Smart electric drive makes zero-emission driving in an urban environment a reality,” said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, president and CEO of Daimler AG. “The continuing rising demand shows the success and the potential of the Smart Fortwo from Hambach. This year we have already sold 90,000 cars, more than 16,000 of them in the U.S.A. From mid-2009, the Smart will also become a familiar sight on Chinese roads.”
The new Smart Fortwo electric drive with a lithium-ion battery will be produced in a small series from the end of 2009; the company debuted the Fortwo EV electric vehicle in 2006 and since 2007, a fleet of 100 Fortwo EVs has been tested in everyday service in London.
“The Fortwo is a success story,” said Anders Sundt Jensen, Head of Brand Management for Smart. “It has won lots of fans in 37 markets worldwide. The Smart is particularly sought-after in the U.S.A. which, even in the first year of the market launch, has become the third-strongest market after Italy and Germany. There it is already a familiar sight on the roads of cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Phoenix.”
The Smart plant in Hambach was inaugurated in 1997 and produced its first vehicle in 1998.
Source: Canadian Driver

One man's mission: to maximize his mileage

Greg Williams - For The Calgary Herald
Friday, August 29, 2008

These days, trying to squeeze a few extra kilometres out of a tank of fuel is a good idea.But a growing number of enthusiasts -- known as hypermilers -- are taking this goal to the extreme.Hypermilers will do just about anything to increase their economy and extend their driving range. Some of the methods they use, such as tailgating a transport truck to drive in the slipstream, however, might not even be legal. And that's not something hypermiler and fuel efficiency expert Keith Hebert, 37, of Abbotsford, B.C., condones ."I promote the practical and usable techniques drivers can use. There are definitely some other techniques that might not be legal," says Hebert, webmaster of www.100mpg.ca. "My definition of a hypermiler is somebody who's able to exceed the official fuel economy rating of their car."
Read full article here.

[We met Keith Hebert in early September, 2005 at a cruise night in Port Perry, Ontario hosted by Haugen's Famous Chicken and Ribs Barbeque. See photo above and this post.]

'Smarter' way to deliver pizza

NECN: Peter Howe, Fall River, Mass.) - The rising cost of gas has small business owners looking to make smart choices about fuel consumption. Here in New England, at least one company that relies on deliveries to make money is turning to a tiny coupe to keep profits up. Seth Hockert Lotz has had a Domino's Pizza franchise in Fall River, Massachusetts for 23 years. Like small businessmen across New England who run delivery fleets, he's been squeezed by gas prices and commodity prices. But, Seth just found a new solution.
t's Smart Car -- the tiny, fuel-efficient Mercedes car that doesn't even look as big as a medium pizza from Domino's. It is just 8.8 feet long and five feet high and wide. It's rated 33 miles to the gallon city, 41 highway -- where it can hit 90 mph top speed. The list price ranges $11,000 to $16,000, sometimes more with options.
The European import just went on sale in the U.S. in January, with 14,000 sold already, over 2,500 in July alone. There's a year-long wait list just to buy one. Only five dealers in New England carry them -- in Lynnfield and Somerville, Massachusetts; Warwick, Rhode Island and East Hartford and Fairfield, Connecticut.
WATCH VIDEO HERE.

Project Tatoo

"Cute" dies...

Take the hottest and coolest new ride...the Smart Fortwo. Throw it into a crazed Ed Hardy® blender. Mix in some performance goodies. Toss in some outrageous sound waves. The result is Project Tattoo, a series of limited edition, Ed Hardy® inspired rolling works of art.

Full story and more pictures here.

The top 10 cars you do NOT want to crash

With gas prices hovering around $4 throughout much of the country, every day the news seems to feature another story about dealer lots filled with unwanted SUVs while small econoboxes are selling for sticker price or more. Yet with so many commuters ditching their heavy haulers for something a little more petite, there is one issue that seems to get overlooked -- safety. After all, back when Tahoes and Expeditions ruled the road many owners defended the guzzlers by saying they offered more protection on the highway than little, eco-friendly tin cans. But now, with those people now piloting Fits and Yarises, you don't hear that argument quite so much.In addition, surrounding yourself with lots of sheetmetal isn't always the best protection -- despite their small appearance, many small cars are actually very safe, at least according to their crash test results. When the smart fortwo arrived on U.S. shores many wondered how it would hold up in a wreck, but in recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing the minicar was impressively crashworthy. And sometimes the opposite can be true, too -- when the last-generation F-150, for example, was tested by the IIHS, the truck crumpled like a soda can. So given that size doesn't guarantee protection and for many drivers small is the new big, anyway, this raises a question: which 10 cars on sale today will hold up the worst if you wrap them around a tree?

(Ratings separated by front-, side-, and rear-impact tests)
10. Hummer H3 -- Front: Acceptable, Side: Acceptable, Rear: Poor

9. Jeep Patriot (without optional side-airbags) -- Acceptable, Marginal, Acceptable

8. Pontiac G6 Convertible -- Acceptable, Marginal, Marginal

7. Mitsubishi Raider/Dodge Dakota -- Acceptable, Marginal, Poor

6. GMC Canyon/Chevrolet Colorado -- Acceptable, Poor, Marginal

5. Mazda B Series/Ford Ranger -- Acceptable, Marginal, Poor

4. Chevrolet Aveo -- Acceptable, Marginal, Poor

3. Saab 9-7X/Chevrolet Trailblazer/GMC Envoy -- Acceptable, Poor, Marginal

2. Suzuki Forenza -- Acceptable, Poor, Poor

1. Kia Rio/Hyundai Accent -- Acceptable, Poor, Poor

Honorable Mention: Chrysler 300 (Good, Poor, Marginal), Mazda 3 (Good, Poor, Marginal), Audi A4 Cabriolet (Good, Marginal Poor), BMW 3 Series Convertible (Good, Marginal, Poor), Buick LaCrosse (Good, Marginal, Poor)

Read full article here.

Daimler denies planning second Smart car plant

STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - German car maker Daimler AG does not intend to build another factory for its Smart brand minicars, the company said on Monday, denying a German magazine report.
"We have no plans for a second Smart plant," said a spokesman for the Mercedes-Benz division, which includes Smart.
He was responding to a report in Auto Motor und Sport that a second plant was under consideration given surging demand for the small cars, which was about to strain capacity at its plant in Hambach, France.
The spokesman said capacity utilization at Hambach was "very satisfactory" but he declined to discuss future production plans. He also said Smart had no plans for the foreseeable future to expand its product range beyond the two-seat version.
Auto Motor und Sport had quoted management sources as saying the company was sounding out the option of building another site, with Asia or the United States under discussion as possible locations.
Total Smart brand sales rose nearly 57 percent in the first seven months of the year to 81,300 units and were up by just over a quarter in July alone to 12,400 cars.
U.S. sales for the Smart two-seater hit 2,559 in July, bringing total U.S. deliveries to around 14,000 units since its launch there at the start of the year.
(Reporting by Hendrik Sackmann; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

France to celebrate the Citroen 2CV’s 60th anniversary

France is going to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Citroen Deux Chevaux, or Citroen 2CV as it is commonly known, this coming October with an exhibition of the car being put on specially at the Cite des Sciences et de L'industrie in Paris.
Visitors will be taken from the birth of the Citroen 2CV through the stages of its development and history.
Citroen 2CVIn 1948, when the Citroen 2CV first appeared at the Paris car show, it wasn’t and immediate success with French motorists because it only had one headlight, no starter motor and the car’s designer, Pierre Jules Boulanger, was forced to admit that it looked like an umbrella on wheels.
However, the low price of the new car meant that the poorer French people could afford one, so its popularity soared and soon there was a waiting list of five years for the Citroen 2CV, which was fast becoming a French icon.
The 2CV was economical on fuel and cheap to repair, and featured an air-cooled engine that was unlikely to go wrong as well as excellent suspension that made it the perfect family holiday car for exploring bumpy country roads.
View source.
With thanks to volksmith.