About smart
smart GmbH (formerly MCC smart GmbH) is a manufacturer of microcars and superminis of Daimler AG based in Böblingen, Germany, produced in Hambach (France). It is marketed as the "smart" in all lower case, as in the logo. The current smart brand logo denotes part of a circle representing the wheel and an arrow for "forward thinking".
The name of the company, part of Daimler AG, was changed from "Smart GmbH Micro Compact Car GmbH " to "smart fortwo GmbH" in September 2002. It was merged as a division of Mercedes-Benz Cars in 2007.
Company history
The original idea behind the very short "smart car" was that the vehicle would be easy to park. It is short enough to allow it to be parked "nose-in" where a conventionally sized car would have to parallel park. Its length of 2.5 metres (98.4 in) equals the width of a regular parking slot, allowing two or three smarts to park in the same space as one normal car if parked side-on to the usual parking direction.
The project idea was originally started by Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch and was nicknamed the "Swatchmobile". The name SMART is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART. The car was supposed to use innovative features (such as a hybrid engine) and to be an affordable car for young people. Similar to the objective for the Citroën 2CV in the 1940s, its purpose was to "transport two people and a case of beer".
