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Smart to exit the US

The micro car brand will leave the US and Canada by the end of the 2019 model year, following its sale to Geely.


Daimler has confirmed Smart will leave the US and Canadian markets by the end of the 2019, but the automaker will continue to provide support for existing cars through its Mercedes-Benz dealership network.

The German automaker told TechCrunch, "After much careful consideration, Smart will discontinue its battery-electric Smart EQ ForTwo model in the US and Canadian markets at the conclusion of MY2019".

“A number of factors, including a declining micro-car market in the US and Canada, combined with high homologation costs for a low volume model are central to this decision.”

Currently Smart only sells electric versions of the ForTwo in the US and Canada. Since the shift to an all-electric range, sales have fallen from 1875 in 2016 to just 264 in 2018.

Smart left the Australian market in 2015 during the change over to the current third-generation ForTwo range.

The long-term future of the Smart brand was secured earlier this year when Daimler signed a joint venture deal with its largest single shareholder, Chinese automaker Geely.

As part of the agreement, Geely will take a 50 per cent stake in Smart. The brand will begin production of its next generation vehicles, styled by Mercedes-Benz and engineered by Geely, from 2022 at a new factory in China for sales around the world.

From 2020 Smart will ditch petrol engines from its existing range.

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