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Struggling to reignite interest in its only model, Smart USA is taking the diminutive, 40 mpg Smart Fortwo on a multi-city tour in hopes of exposing the tiny car to people who are not going to its dealerships, as dramatically sagging sales show.


Contributor Rob Calem caught up with the tour late last month in Hoboken, N.J., and interviewed a few of the people who drove the Smart during the event. Mainly, he reports, they came away impressed.


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By Robert E. Calem




It was, of course, a completely unscientific survey, but one we thought interesting to field.


The results?


Most of our respondents reacted favorably to the car, and expressed some degree of surprise that they did like it.


Those spins, however, also resulted in a few negative assessments of  the Smart's driving dynamics.


A number of people, though, even said the test drive had made them think of possibly replacing their current rides with a Smart. We also heard positive comments about the vehicle's safety - a story pounded home to the drivers by the two Smart specialists who were there to coax anyone with a driver's license into taking the car for a spin around Hoboken.


"It's not a chick magnet, but it would make a lot of sense for where I live, and would save me a lot of money on not having to pay for a parking garage," said Brett Sikora, 24, a Hoboken resident and real estate agent who currently drives - and garages for $250 per month - a 2009 Honda Accord Coupe.


The Smart, he said, "felt like a regular car once you were in it. You forget that you're in something that's that small from the outside,"














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Tags: Smart, Smart Car, Smart Fortwo, Smart Street Tour

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Smart Tour Aims To Make Believers As Tiny Two-Seater's U.S. Sales Falter was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.