Mercedes-Benz stops MCC Smart

Mercedes Stops MCC Smart
Two pictures below optimized for 800x600 screen resolution....................................92KB

There`s more info about the Smart debacle in Germany`s biggest daily newspaper "Bild" ( from fall 1997):

Mercedes stops Smart
It rolled over, too
Mercedes stops the Smart!
Like the A-Class it also rolled over at the "Moose-Test". The delivery of the only 2,50m short two seater Smart shall start from October 1998 and not from the spring as planned. The up to now Smart-development chief Johann Tomforde has been fired. The Smart is a co-development of Mercedes and the ((Swiss)) Swatch clock-manufacturer Nicolas Hayek. What went wrong so far and what has to be changed with the Smart - see page 18.
photo smart1f.jpg 39KB
Photo: Auto Bild

Smart: It needs a new chassis
At driving tests in Spain and America in November the Smart rolled over. This was confirmed by the Swatch inventor Nicolas Hayek. The tests had been included in the ((test)) programme because of the Elk-Test-debacle of the A-class.
Mercedes reacted: The 2,50 metres short city car gets a new chassis. If the DM 16.250 ((USD 8.550 assumed USD 1 = DM 1.90)) Smart will be fitted with the electronic stability programme ESP like the A-Class has not been decided yet. Smart-development chief Johann Tomforde is said to have withheld
the problems and therefore had to leave.
photo smart3f.jpg 53KB
Photo: Auto Motor und Sport Heavily enlarged

Additionally the quality doesn`t meet the requirements of Mercedes yet. Mercedes chief Juergen Hubbert: "We have to exclude any risk. Our customers expect highest product- and service-quality especially from a revolutionary car like the Smart". The Daimler bosses were horrified about the miserable finish. So the gaps between doors and body shall not meet the instructions. Additionally there are problems with the new production procedure in the new plant in Hambach (France). The parts are delivered completely
mounted and the Smart only put together on the line like a jigsaw puzzle. That shortens the production time of the small car to only 4,5 hours. But the teamwork doesn`t work. For example models without functioning heating left the line. The total cost of the delay of the production until the end of 1998 roughly are DM 300 million ((USD 158 mio)).
End of article - translation by MBEP webmaster
As usual remarks in ((blabla)) but (blabla) original text. Bold printing same as in the original.

More info about the Smart:
^1999: ^{Strike
at Smart Factory}
^{1999:
Smart Roadster Study at `99 Frankfurt IAA}
^{1999:
Smart Four-Seater for Year 2000}
^{1999:
The Smart - An Expensive Flop ?}
...and be sure not to miss the "alternative" Smart site!

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