Roger Penske, the chairman of Penske Automotive Group based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, said the high cost of gas prices means the Smart minicar will sell more than the 20,000 units estimated in 2008. Penske AG acts as the sole distributor of the Smart minicar in the United States, and made the announcement on Wednesday.
“We expect Smart sales will come in between 24,000 and 27,500 during 2008,” Penske said, which would represent a 20 to nearly 38 percent increase from the original estimates, according to AFP. The two-passenger Smart ForTwo is by far the smallest car on the market, and the slowest, powered by a 1.0-liter inline-3 turbocharged engine that is rated at 70 horsepower and returns EPA ratings of 33mpg in the city cycle and 41mpg on the highway. It was first sold in the U.S. this January.
All are built in Hambach, France by Germany’s Daimler AG, which also owns Mercedes-Benz, and Penske expects sales to grow to between 30,000 and 32,000 in 2009 if enough cars can be built and imported for the North American market.
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