Ten years ago a car started to change our focus and our way of thinking and feeling: the smart. The name is a reference to the car's intelligence and intelligence and the smart city coupé, later renamed smart fortwo, lived up to its name. It was new and excitingly different to conventional cars. This is because it came in an unusual guise as a two-seater – an extremely compact car barely longer than two and a half metres that could also fit in a parking space perpendicular to the flow of traffic if necessary. In addition, the smart was characterised by a new, sophisticated design language and showed that even a small car can be attractive, safe and grown-up.

Even then the two-seater smart provided a unique answer to many questions concerning individual mobility, especially in urban areas. For not only does it take up very little road and parking space, it also boasts impressively low fuel consumption and minimum carbon dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, it transports two people and their luggage to their destination very comfortably and with maximum safety.

When sales of one of the world's most unusual production cars started in October 1998, the newcomer that was at variance with many prevalent ideas of how a car should be, immediately became a subject of passionate, and often controversial, discussion. Today, ten years later, the smart idea has long since taken hold. The intelligent two-seater has become a cult car. The weekly journal "Die Zeit" called the vehicle concept an "urban icon". The smart focuses on the mobility of the future, consistently implements technical innovations and also uses constructional details as design features.

As one of the youngest car makes, smart stands for innovation, functionality and joie de vivre. smart especially appeals to customers who seek new, intelligent and trend-setting solutions in the automotive sector. smart fortwo drivers can be categorized in terms of their attitude rather than their age, profession or gender.

They are open-minded individuals who question the status quo and live their lives consciously. They opt for a smart fortwo because it is unique and because it sets them apart from the masses. And also because it is quite simply fun to drive.

However, it is not only the car itself that is bursting with innovations; new approaches were also taken in sales and marketing. For example, glass towers presenting the smart fortwo to the public in its many variants were built in many places – bold architecture for an avant-garde vehicle concept.

The smart fortwo has an impressive track record. It has successfully established itself on the market since 1998. A total of more than one million smart fortwo models have been produced since the two-seater was launched on the market
in 1998.

No other car has a younger clientele. 45 percent of smart fortwo customers are under 45. The smart fortwo appeals to people with individual lifestyles from different social classes - in many cities around the world. After initially only being sold in Germany and eight further European countries, the innovative two-seater is now also a sought-after car on other continents. Today it is sold on five continents and in 37 countries worldwide including South Africa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia, Canada and the USA.

The cult car is most popular with customers in Italy, Germany and the USA: approximately two thirds of fortwo drivers come from these three countries. The high quality "passion" line is particularly popular and is chosen by two thirds of smart customers worldwide.

In mid January 2008 the Penske Automotive Group, the sales partner for smart in the USA, started to deliver the first vehicles to customers on the world's largest car market. Since the start of this year more than 16 000 Americans have taken delivery of their smart.

From mid 2009 the smart fortwo will also be available to Chinese customers. smart will then open up a further large car market. The car is practically tailor-made for the growing number of small car customers on the Chinese market. The smart fortwo combines state-of-the-art technology, premium quality and safety, exemplary low fuel consumption and corresponding low CO2 emissions with a unique space concept, which offers particular advantages in the dense traffic of China’s numerous megacities.

China is the world's fastest-growing automobile market and already the second largest vehicle market. Market observers are currently registering strong growth of the small car segment in China. These are the best prerequisites for an innovative, low-consumption vehicle like the smart fortwo that is designed for urban lifestyles. In Chinaenvironmental awareness is greatly increasing among the population. Moreover, neither do Chinese customers regard their car as a merely functional means of transport. They are increasingly using their cars as a means to express their personality. Cosmopolitan young people in particular seek an agile, trendy vehicle for their flexible urban lifestyles, in order to set themselves apart from others.

Since the spring of 2007 the second generation smart fortwo has been clearly continuing the tradition of its predecessor and the fascinating smart story. No other company can refer to such wide experience in this vehicle class as Daimler AG. It is part of the company's 120 years of automotive history that started in 1886 and that is full of design solutions for personal mobility.

The new smart fortwo continues to embody the brand's core values of innovation, functionality and joie de vivre. It remains a classless car that conveys a positive attitude to life. Its owners have a modern and enlightened way of thinking and show social and ecological responsibility, demonstrating the form that urban mobility can take today. For them, the smart fortwo is a kind of automotive declaration of independence.

Anders Sundt Jensen, responsible for the smart brand says "The new fortwo is even more comfortable, agile, safe and environmentally friendly than its successful predecessor was. The new fortwo does not only appeal to customers as a lifestyle-oriented vehicle, but also on account of its unparalleled economy."

The developers of the second generation smart fortwo also succeeded – in a vehicle measuring just under 2.70 metres in length – in creating a deceptively spacious interior offering maximum safety and comfort. Moreover, the smart fortwo is now even more comfortable, agile, safe and eco-friendly than its predecessor. It provides the right answers to today's challenges concerning mobility, ecology and running costs. For example, thanks to the world's smallest direct injection diesel engine the smart fortwo cdi consumes just 3.3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (NEFZ) and emits just 88 grams of CO2 – the lowest figure worldwide. In Germany and Italy every 5th smart driver drives the CO2 champion, the economical diesel variant of the two-seater.

Since October 2007 the smart fortwo has also been available as a micro hybrid drive (mhd) version. Thanks to an intelligent start/stop technology, the low consumption petrol version achieves fuel savings of around eight percent in the combined driving cycle and up to 19 percent in urban traffic. Whenever the vehicle is stationary or even coasting at a speed of less than 8 km/h, the start/stop function shuts down the engine and in this way greatlyreduces CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, at the end of 2007 smart started a pilot project in London with the smart fortwo electric drive. Together with selected customers, smart is testing 100 vehicles with electric drive there to gain real-world experience.

Environmental technologies are an integral part of all the smart brand's fields of activity. This does not only apply to the production facility in the French town of Hambach, it also applies to the smart fortwo itself: from the development and production of the vehicle to its operational period and later recycling. The internationally renowned Öko-Trend environmental institute has acknowledged the smart fortwo's top position in matters relating to environmental friendliness and awarded the petrol version of the innovative compact car the coveted environmental certificate for cars. The institute thereby confirms the smart fortwo's outstanding level of environmental friendliness. As well as fuel consumption and noise and pollutant emissions, ecological criteria such as details of the manufacturer's production, logistics, recycling and environmental management were included in the assessment. Moreover, the smart fortwo has been awarded the ÖkoGlobe for environmental friendliness by one of Germany's largest insurance companies.

Journalists, too, have confirmed the trendy two-seater car's outstanding climate friendliness and economy. For example, the large Italian car magazine "Quattroruote" awarded the special editor's prize to the smart fortwo cdi for its exemplary economy and environmental friendliness.

In addition, in February 2008 experts from car magazines rated the smart fortwo as Germany's most economical car independently of one another. The experts from "Autozeitung" found that "Every kilometre driven in the 61 hp basic petrol version costs just 24.5 cents" giving it first place in the ranking. In addition to the running costs, the survey looked at fixed costs such as tax and insurance, workshop costs and loss of value.

In an analysis by "auto motor und sport" the fortwo also came first in the ranking of inexpensive cars. The editors found that drivers of a smart fortwo cdi can travel 166 kilometres for 10 euros – a figure managed by no other car. The experts from ADAC also confirm this classification as Germany's most economical car: they calculate total costs of just 24.6 cents per kilometre for the compact car, proving that no other car is as inexpensive to drive!

Extremely low fixed costs contribute to the unique low cost situation for smart fortwo owners. German insurance companies give the two-seater the low model category 12 rating for third party insurance and even category 11 for fully comprehensive insurance. According to calculations by the car magazine "Autobild", at a 35 percent premium rate third party insurance for the smart fortwo costs just 13 euros per month and full insurance cover is available for 25 euros per month. This means that no other car can be driven as cheaply!