The Smart #1 will also be available in Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and the Smart #3 will be officially launched and deliveries will begin in Europe early next year.
Mercedes-Geely joint venture Smart has launched the Smart #1 in Switzerland and Spain and started deliveries of the electric SUV there, after the model opened volume deliveries in Germany and France.
The Smart #1 will also be available in European markets including Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and the Smart #3 will be officially launched and deliveries will open in Europe early next year, the company said in a press release today.
The Smart brand was born in 1998 and was aiming the micro-premium car market for mega-city travel.
On January 8, 2020, Mercedes-Benz and Geely jointly formed a new joint venture based on the Smart brand to bet on the electrification transition.
As part of the agreement between the two, Mercedes-Benz designers will design the Smart cars, Geely will engineer them, and the new models will be produced in new factories in China.
Smart currently has two models on sale in China, the Smart #1, which went on sale in China on April 25, 2022 and deliveries started on September 24, and the Smart #3, which went on sale in China on June 1 with deliveries starting on June 20.
From 2022 until 2024, Smart will release one all-new model each year, continuing to enrich the matrix of the new-generation Smart all-electric family, it said.
In June, Smart delivered 3,829 units in China, an increase of nearly 46 percent over May. In the first half of the year, Smart delivered 23,540 units in China.
In Europe, Smart sells its vehicles in Mercedes-Benz stores, unlike the stand-alone sales outlet model in China, according to its press release today.
Smart now has nearly 300 sales and service outlets in 13 European countries, it said.
On July 13, Chinese lithium giant Tianqi Lithium announced it had led a Series A round of financing in Smart for $150 million, giving the company a valuation of $5.3 billion.
This article was first published by Phate Zhang on CnEVPost, a website focusing on new energy vehicle news from China.
