Dealers can get set for rising Smart electric car sales, UK boss says

26/05/2022

The Smart dealer network will sell new models such as the Smart #1 on agency contracts

Electric car brand Smart yesterday revealed aims to ramp up car sales once deliveries begin of the first of its new generation of cars, the Smart #1.

The electric-powered five-door crossover, whose #1 name is pronounced "Hashtag One", will reach the UK in 2023 and is hoped to put the Smart brand on the consideration lists of far more car buyers than its iconic, yet niche, two-seater Smart ForTwo has ever been able to.

The first new model since Mercedes sold a 50% stake in Smart to Chinese automaker Geely in 2019, the Smart #1 is built using Geely's SEA architecture and has a range of up to 270 miles on a full charge.

Alone, Mercedes had struggled to make Smart a financial success since its launch.

David Browne, UK chief executive of Smart, told AM he hopes the brand's UK sales will climb by 2025 to the level of 8,000 to 12,000 units, which smart last achieved in 2016 before it became an EV only brand in 2019.

Omnichannel retailing is Smart's focus now; it has a direct retail strategy designed to facilitate online new car purchase, and its dealers have agency agreements for new car sales fulfillment.

The retail network, which comprises of at least one Smart sales point in each of Mercedes-Benz UK's market areas, will begin taking pre-orders this December and in early 2023 they'll get left-hand-drive models at their showrooms to allow customers to look and feel before the UK's deliveries start.

Browne said: "Customers will clearly see a new era of smart, in terms of the product and the go-to-market strategy, but where they will see that consistency is in the retail presence.

"We're starting out from a really strong position, with a retail network including some of the best partners in the country, really professional with great retail environment.

"But now we're bringing new product into that space, and bringing different customers in there as well. But it's still fundamentally part of that retail network."

Spotlight on running a modern dealership 2023

The latest AM industry special issue

The complexity of running a modern dealership can be misunderstood easily by people looking in on our industry.

Any general manager has so many plates to spin, and they must foster a talented team that they can rely on to not just do the basics well, but to sprinkle some magic on top that customers can notice.

If the marketplace in 2023 is steadily returning to relative normality, this normality now includes the drive to find customers for an increasing supply of electric vehicles, and the need to source used cars from all channels and market them carefully. And of course there are the desires to delight consumers with an omnichannel experience and to hold on to decent margins after a couple of years of strong profitability.

The expectations of both the customer and the business’s stakeholder must be achieved to the optimum level.

In this special digital publication, industry experts, prominent suppliers and franchised dealers share their insights on the major aspects required in running a modern dealership well.

Read now