For about a year and a half, Smart, the brand known for its tiny city cars, hasn’t had a city car to sell. The brand has a lineup of three compelling electric SUVs and is now working on a plug-in hybrid sedan, but Smart’s trademark city car, the Fortwo, is nowhere to be seen. Smart has recently committed to bringing its city car back, and now, for the first time, it has released images showing signs of life in the #2 project. Let’s take a look!
Smart recently went to the press to talk breathlessly about how it was going back to its roots with a new two-seat city car. Apparently, Smart completed its feasibility studies and thinks it can make some money by returning to the category. But some people didn’t believe Smart – why would it get back into a market that seems so impossibly tiny? Worse, Smart’s only teaser imagery for the new car was some vague shadows. Nobody had any real idea of what the car would look like or how big or small it would be.
On Monday, Smart finally released something tangible to the public. The company doubled down on its commitment to bring back a two-seat city car, and this time, it’s brought images of the functional development mule that’s undergoing track testing in China right now. Oh yeah, I’m getting excited.
Bringing City Cars Back
Smart’s had an impressive comeback since Geely purchased a 50 percent stake in the company back in 2019. The reinvigorated company immediately jumped into profitable segments and launched the all-new Smart #1 electric crossover, which is sized roughly like a Mini Countryman. Smart first considered an SUV back in the mid-2000s and even went through the work to develop one, but ran out of cash before the factory could come online. So, the #1 really just fulfilled a plan that, at the time, was more than 15 years in the making.
Then, Smart really went crazy. Next came the #3, which is one of those silly “coupe SUV” things and measures about as long as a present-generation Chevrolet Trax. Then, Smart came swinging with the #5, which, to my eyes, looks vaguely like a Jeep Renegade, and is sized like a Volkswagen Tiguan.
What’s so neat about all of these crossovers, all of which were launched within the past five years, is that their specs seem pretty neat. They ride on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture and make up to about 646 horsepower. Yes, a Smart that makes over 600 HP! That’s insane!
Earlier this month, Smart teased its first-ever sedan, the Hashtag 6, and that’s pretty awesome as well. Yes, Smart desperately wants you to know that the pound signs next to its cars’ names mean “hashtag,” not “number.”
What wasn’t so great was what happened to the car that kicked off the Smart brand, the Fortwo. Smart’s original car, which launched in 1998, was sort of ignored in this explosive expansion. Sure, it got some minor updates, but it wasn’t (metaphorically) supercharged by the new Geely relationship.
In 2020, Mercedes-Benz sold Smart’s famous Smartville plant in France to Ineos, and Ineos built the Fortwo under contract until mid-2024. Then, the car was killed, and the nameplate’s future became uncertain. When pressed on the issue, Smart said it wasn’t going to make another city car unless it knew it could be profitable.
In September, Smart had great news when it announced development for the successor to the Fortwo had been greenlit. The reason Smart has decided to do this is the company believes the demand for city cars is rising, and this demand is apparently high enough for Smart to take another swing. Perhaps Smart is not wrong here. I mean, even the American President is talking about Japanese Kei cars now, so maybe some folks are interested in tiny cars again.
Keeping It Tiny
The new #2 is going to be a departure from what Smart has been doing with its crossovers and sedan. This car will not ride on the Sustainable Experience Architecture. Instead, Smart is cooking up a new platform just for the tiny city car. This platform is called the Electric Compact Architecture (ECA), and, to test it out, Smart’s engineers have prepared a functional mule.
If you know your Smarts, you probably have already identified that the test mule is wearing the body of a third-generation Fortwo (sold from 2016 to 2019 in America). Smart says that your eyes don’t deceive you, and it really is an old Fortwo with the new ECA bones under the camo. Smart says that, in using Fortwo bodies to test the new platform, the company is confirming that the new car will be just as tiny as the outgoing model.
There’s other good news, too, from Smart:
As well as its distinctive ultra-compact size, the #2 will retain the fortwo’s two-door, two-seat configuration, real-wheel drive dynamics and signature wheels-at-the-corners stance. This DNA, however, is just the starting point for the complete reinvention of smart’s city two-seater. With a fully redesigned interior and exterior from the Mercedes-Benz design team, the smart #2 will launch with a fresh identity. The new ECA architecture will provide the basis for a next-generation electric drivetrain, advanced safety, and an urban driving experience that’s unlike anything else.
The latest tests on the ECA architecture have been enabled by a creative engineering solution: integrating the new platform into existing smart fortwo bodies, creating a fleet of highly representative test vehicles. Leveraging these prototypes, smart’s R&D team is carrying out validation work at specialized facilities globally. At a proving ground in China, engineers are focusing on core driving dynamics: refining ride and handling for city agility, verifying structural strength, and optimizing brake system performance. Simultaneously, other testing locations are validating crash safety performance, suspension durability, battery performance, software systems, and climate control systems across various conditions – all integral steps in preparing the vehicle for its next stage of testing, and ultimately, series production.
I will note that the practice of using a previous generation’s body for development mules is standard practice for Smart. When Smart developed the Formore SUV in 2006, the test mules were Smart Forfours with giant metal grates welded onto the back. When Smart was developing the third-generation Fortwo, the test mules were Renault Twingos – sliced in half!
Something I find neat about this new mule is that it probably started life as a base model Fortwo, like a Pure. Yes, I can see that through the camo! It has the model’s pre-facelift halogen headlights and the basic taillights that were used on lower trim levels.
If the production #2 is sized anything like the mule, it’s going to be a properly tiny car. The second-generation and third-generation Fortwos, which launched in 2008 and 2016 in America, respectively, measured only 8.8 feet long. In a world where cars get bigger with every generation, Smart kept the same length, but made the third-gen model slightly wider. It would be amazing if the #2 keeps the same length.
Smart is still staying out of America for now, and that’s sad. The brand finally has a lineup with a really good chance of selling well in America. Smart is even working on a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. But at the same time, it’s easy to understand taking a cautious approach, given this year’s rollercoaster of tariffs.
Smart says it’s still on track to launch the new car in late 2026. To those of you counting, that means Smart has about a year to meet its deadline. In theory, that means it shouldn’t be long until we start seeing concepts and prototypes.
You bet you’ll hear more about Smart’s progress the moment I do. Is the city car going to make a comeback? I don’t know, but I’m excited!
Hat tip to Jwight!
Top graphic image: Smart
The number two is a shit idea.
Sorry, I’m shocked nobody has come up with a better bathroom pun for this unfortunately named car, so you’ll have to settle for mine.
Couldn’t they maybe stretch the wheelbase, just a tad, like an extra 4 or 5 inches to squeeze in just one extra seat? Dame Joanna Lumley already proved a person can fit sideways in the back of an older ForTwo, why not just make a real seat back there
That’s a high-IQ idea.
I am sure the reason is called “regulations”.
It’s because they’re making a two seat car. There’s plenty of small cars with rear seats, but not many tiny two-seaters, and that’s the market they’re going for.
I knew Mercedes would deliver when I saw the Smartsignal lighting up the Internet.
The Chinese and/or Hyundai will do it better and for half the price within 3 years. Smarts have always been a joke of a car. At least Gremlins were cheap.
The plot twist is that Smarts are mostly Chinese now. Chinese platforms, Chinese-built, Chinese tech, but MB styling. The pricing of the crossovers seems reasonable enough, which is a good change. I paid $17,000 for my 2016 Fortwo, and I can understand why people weren’t exactly lining up to do that.
I suspect they are doing this due to the success of the the Citroen Ami.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they looked at the Ami and thought they could make something better for the money.
Citroen Ami is not a car. It is a quadricycle.
Citroen Ami will do 45 km/h
A smart for two will do 145 km/h
Pretty sure that mopeds and inline skates are more comparable to a Citroen Ami.
And if they can build a new Smart for not much more money than the Ami but with far better capability, they may have a winner on their hands… at least in the EU.
I doubt it, the Smart ForTwo has always been expensive, even compared to its closest competitor, the Fiat 500, that again is very expensive compared to the car it is based on, the Fiat Panda.
It is part of the sales strategy to be the upper class, but still sensible thing to drive.
The ForTwo is an extreme design exercise. It is made for the very few who can actually benefit from its length (shortness). The frontal area is still the same size as a real car and thereby also the drag and efficiency.
You could nearly buy 2 Hyundai I10s, a real 5 seater with towing capacity, for the price of a ForTwo.
Okay, I cannot be the only one who saw that top shot and took a double take.
That white graphic along the rocker makes it look like it has a lift kit on it! My brain interpreted it as Smart has finally figured out the US market and built an SUV with 35″ tall mud tires.
The #6 is the successor to the Ioniq 5 for being deceptively larger than it is. It’s the size of an E-Class/5 Series but looks like a compact sedan!
It’s Number 6 when written as #6. That’s a number sign, not a symbol for fried shredded potatoes.
The Fortwo an interesting car, but it does not have a lot of buyers lined up waiting to take one home. The original was not as economical as slightly larger cars were, so there was no point in choosing it over something better. There are more desirable 2-seaters out there. It would sell only if it’s the cheapest new car on the market.
The hashtag 6 looks like it aspires to be the next generation Dodge Dart. Not bad looking at all, although sedans seem to be fading away.
Thanks for the hat tip! It’s encouraging to see smart return to its roots, although my guess is we’ll never see the new #2 in the USA. That means those of us with the original, Hambach built fortwo will just have to hang onto them. Miles of smiles!
As a former eD owner, I whole-heartedly approve of this. I really miss that lil’ f’er!
ED? Oof these names
Yeeeeaaaaah, officially, it meant “Electric Drive,” but the abbreviation was so unfortunate. lol
“ED? Oof these names”
I view it as a symptom of Mercedes (and other legacy car companies) not being serious about BEVs and thinking they would only be some short-term fad… or something like that.
For some people, no longer having eD would be considered a good thing.
Have you since recovered from your ED?
/jk
If you get eD, your wife would probably leave you.
And then I’d FINALLY get some peace and quiet!!!
The first smart car EV was sold in the US as the “smart ED” and now they’re making the “#2”?? Somebody over there has a perverted mind!
When does #2 drop???
Would a Twingo sliced in half be a Go? A Singlego?
A Twixtgo?
A Halfgo, duh
That #6 is a looker. I am sure the inside it idiotic though.
It looks alot like a Chrysler 200.
They will have huge sales here in the US.
Several dozen, at least?
Another looser-mobile.
Looser than what?
A loose #2?
Sorry, this comment section is inevitably going to be circling the bowl…
I wonder if some Smart exec somewhere is realizing they made a huge mistake with the naming scheme…
Yeah, I can’t say I’ll be disappointed if Smart fails to drop a deuce in the US.
Shitposts from sea to shining sea!
My issue with teeny-tiny electric city cars is that in this country, where are you going to plug it in? If you have a driveway you don’t need this rollerskate. If you street park you can’t plug it in. Without a major infrastructure push to deal with these deficiencies, and at this point I think that carries the same probability as a meteor strike to my house, I don’t see the demand.
You’ve defined the problem. Plus in America people just keep getting larger (at least the ones not on GLP-1 meds).
I think the key is the actual driving distance. I grew up in DC and because of DC’s unique layout and politics, it actually fits what I am trying to illustrate.
Washington DC is diamond shaped (with a chunk missing) and is all of 14 miles from the far north to far south. If you live in DC and work in DC (e.g. all urban environment), you won’t need more than 20-30 miles of range a day, which is in the realm of being recharged with a standard wall-socket overnight. Given how small the Smart is, you can likely find a way to pull up to a wall socket.
However, DC also shows why the Smart is going to be a hard sell for the US. DC has 700k or so residents. The DC Area has 6.3 million. All told, the average Greater DC resident drives 35 miles for commuting and thus needs a level 2 charger to do overnight charging. So, although the Smart would work in DC, it wouldn’t do well in the burbs where 89% of the population lives and drives…a lot. But wait there’s more. There are over 40 Metro (subway system inside of the small 10 mile x 10 mile diamond that is DC. So, for a lot of residents of DC proper, it would be easier to walk to a subway system than find parking even for a tiny car like the Smart.
Yes, DC is weird (in so many ways), but the fact that DC proper (old school downtown) is a different entity than the area around it shows a point. New York stands out for population density in the US with over 11k people per sq. km. Only NYC (and surrounding cities), San Fran and Boston/Cambridge have population densities over 5k. For these specific places (NYC, Boston and San Fran), there is a reasonably functional mass transit system to that makes the people inside of downtown proper not need a SmartCar.
Now in Europe, there are towns with high population densities and narrow streets that are perfect for Smarts. I know, I’ve stayed at them. They don’t even have to be large cities. I’ve been in tiny towns that you needed to fold the mirrors in to get down some of the roads with a Golf sized vehicle. Smart cars are a common site in the tiny old towns that still have the street layouts from the 16th century. Because yes, walking is an option in these tiny hamlets, but sometimes it is raining, cold or you have a lot of stuff to carry and a tiny car is a perfect solution.
“It’s missing the seats!”
“Well, it ain’t called the smart ForZero for nuthin’!”
This is cool, too bad it’ll almost certainly be made in China so it’ll have a 100% tariff on it.
The Smart #3 will be 4.4 Silverado headlights long?
TAKE MY MONEY!
This #2 thing is getting a little “who’s on first?” for me lol. You mean to tell me the #2 is built on test mules made from the bones of the #3? The fact they want me to read this as “hashtag two” is even sillier.
It’s kind of like the Beetle, when they released the latest Beetle. At the time it was the new Beetle, but not the New Beetle. But also not the new New Beetle, even though it’s the new replacement for the New Beetle.
Can we get The Bishop to design a new Smart ForTwo for current taste trends?
I mean, doesn’t it have to be angry looking? It should be mad at the world. Angry eyebrows, a big, screaming, nine square foot grille. Seven exhaust tips combined across both rear exhausts and side exhausts. Angry lights. Matte black everything. Fake carbon. Even the eleven cupholders should have >:( embossed on the bottom. I need puddle lights that shine “I AM SMART” on the ground. It needs a synchronized LED taillamp ballet and turn signals with 74 individual frames of animation. Light strips.
That’s just the US market! The Chinese market likes its mad cars too.
I think we need a remake of “My Cousin Vinny”. In this version, a Smart Fortwo and a Toyota iQ are confused, getting our protagonist arrested. Mercedes is the expert witness to testify how nobody could reasonably mistake a Smart Fortwo and a Toyota iQ.
My Cousin Vinny: proof that knowing a lot of obscure facts about cars saves lives.
Lewin Day needs to make an uncredited cameo on screen when Pesci says “da two yoots” wherein he retorts “Oy, you mean the two utes, mate?”.
No chance of it, but I wish Nissan would use their Renault alliance to bring over Twingos.
Or even the stellar Renault 5 E-tech
I missed the article on the Octothorpe-6. That’s a nice looking car. I like it.
Not my thing, but it’s nice to see Smart going back to offering goofy little cars, again. We need more of that.
I personally don’t want to see any #2s being launched.
+1 for the first comment being juvenile
Well, so far no #1s have trickled into the US.
We don’t really know if they’ll drop any #2s here or not.
Time to show myself out; I’m feeling a bit flushed…
Why not? I think it would make a big splash.