Smart ForTwo Celebrates 10th Birthday

The miniscule Smart ForTwo is celebrating its 10th birthday this month as the first model rolled off Daimler’s assembly line in Hambach, France on July 2, 1998. The Smart ForTwo began as the brainchild of Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek who joined forces with Mercedes-Benz in 1994 creating the Micro Compact Car AG. However, the joint venture experienced heavy losses and dispute which caused Swatch to pull out.

In 2007, Smart introduced the second generation ForTwo that like its predecessor is offered in Coupe and Cabriolet forms. Since the beginning of 2008, the ForTwo is available for the first time in the U.S. and starting from mid 2009 it will also be sold in China. Over 150,000 customers have purchased a second-generation Fortwo since the model was introduced in March 2007. All in all, more than 900,000 ForTwos have been sold since the two-seater mini car was launched in 1998. Smart’s future plans for the ForTwo include the introduction of an electric drive version equipped with lithium-ion batteries in 2010.