STONE_COLD
21/12/2005, 09h12
Ils sont aussi bien de prendre leur temps quant à moi. Ils attendent de voir si la Yaris va lever aux states.
----
DCX pushes back decision on whether to launch Smart brand in U.S.
Posted Date: 12/21/05
Will they or won't they? DaimlerChrysler, which has filp-flopped on bringing its Smart division to the U.S. seemingly multiple times, has pushed back until 2006 a decision on whether or not to launch the minicar brand here.
Smart said this week that the business case is still being developed and a decision initially planned for late this year might now be be delayed until the Geneva motor show in late February.
DaimlerChrysler has been eyeing the successor to the two-seat ForTwo model planned for the second half of 2007 as the vehicle to lead the possible U.S. launch. Smart executives believe the brand could move as many as 20,000 units a year in U.S. coastal cities. Smart sold 140,000 vehicles worldwide last year.
In an effort to turn the struggling division around, costs have been cut, the lineup has been trimmed to the ForTwo and four-seat ForFour and ties have been stregenthed with Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes division chief and soon to be group CEO Dieter Zetsche has publicly backed Smart's future and is targeting the brand to break even by sometime in 2007. -REUTERS CONTRIBUTED
----
DCX pushes back decision on whether to launch Smart brand in U.S.
Posted Date: 12/21/05
Will they or won't they? DaimlerChrysler, which has filp-flopped on bringing its Smart division to the U.S. seemingly multiple times, has pushed back until 2006 a decision on whether or not to launch the minicar brand here.
Smart said this week that the business case is still being developed and a decision initially planned for late this year might now be be delayed until the Geneva motor show in late February.
DaimlerChrysler has been eyeing the successor to the two-seat ForTwo model planned for the second half of 2007 as the vehicle to lead the possible U.S. launch. Smart executives believe the brand could move as many as 20,000 units a year in U.S. coastal cities. Smart sold 140,000 vehicles worldwide last year.
In an effort to turn the struggling division around, costs have been cut, the lineup has been trimmed to the ForTwo and four-seat ForFour and ties have been stregenthed with Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes division chief and soon to be group CEO Dieter Zetsche has publicly backed Smart's future and is targeting the brand to break even by sometime in 2007. -REUTERS CONTRIBUTED