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AZEqualizer
12-17-2007, 04:34 PM
And they said no one in the US would want one so why import them:


After a delay in the introduction of the Smart Car to the U.S. Daimler AG, has more initial U.S. orders for the Smart ForTwo minicars than it can build. The automaker has received ‘more than 30,000 down payments form buyers in advance of the car’s U.S. introduction in January, “far beyond the production capacity we have for next year,” said Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO. (This was reported on US wire services.) The Penske Automotive Group Inc, which has been collection the $99 reservation fees and will be selling the vehicles through 74 dealerships.


At the other end of the spectrum, more than 4,300 people plunked down deposits for the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 muscle car on the first day that dealers began taking orders, and months before production begins.

cpaddock
01-15-2008, 10:25 PM
AZE: I am one of those 30,000 folks who plunked down the $99! For me it is all about
getting green at a reasonable price, fun to drive comes a close second. With recession
fears looming, gas in Hawaii going past $4/gal, what are the alternatives? And now they
tell me it will be the end of '09 before there is a dealer here. Meanwhile I have totally
fallen in love with the VV Raptor, or Rapture, or Arpeggio, or Trylean. My wife says it's
"cute"! And I can have one if I want. She anounced yesterday that she wants the Smart!
Now that is a reasonable woman! Would it work for my son, who is a CA resident, to buy
the VV and ship it to Hawaii in advance of having established dealers here? Couldn't hurt to have it be seen on the roads...I would be happy to do some sort of PR work...
Am I really going to have to wait two years? I can probably keep the mini van running
till then...primer paint job and all!
Alooooha!