Iceman

I finally got around to reading this month's Fast Company today at the gym. Anyway, they've got a "two sides of the argument" article about Mercedes' strategy in bringing the Smart Car to the States.

On the one hand, one author said they're messing up big-time by bringing a DIFFERENT Smart Car here than the one that's garnered so much praise over the pond. Apparently the U.S. Smart Car will be marketed as a small SUV and a competitor to the RAV-4 and CR-V. The author felt this was a big mistake, as there's already a lot of stiff competition in that segment. In addition, he felt Mercedes was missing a golden opportunity to create some product buzz (a la Mini Cooper) that would build brand loyalty among a younger, less affluent demographic that someday would feel inclined to step up to the mainstream offerings.

The other author argued that Mercedes is using a brilliant strategy. The U.S. market, he argued, simply wouldn't accept a car small enough that two of them fit in a standard parking space and with an engine smaller than most Harley-Davidsons. Whatever panache they would gain for originialty would be lost in the notoriety of launching a product failure that (like the European version) loses billions of dollars.

As usual with Fast Company, it was a good read and I learned some things I didn't know before!