They have been all the rage in Europe and other countries. They are small, light, effiecient, and hve changed the way many people think of transportation. They are the Smart Cars.

A product of the Daimler Co. , basically Mercedes-Benz, Smart’s cars have been popular with countries were gas prices have always been an issue. City cars in nature, the Smart is a car designed for some one who mainly drives in large urban city’s that see drivers driving less than 50 miles a day. Built using composite materials and innovative design, Smart addresses the issues these problems by pairing these materials with small 3 cylinder turbo engines that get over 40mpg.

Now, after many false starts and lots of talk (but no walk) they are coming to America. It will be made in France and sold through 73 U.S. dealers, including Mercedes dealers and dealerships that are part of the Penske Automotive Group. Roger Penske, a racing icon and chairman of Penske Corp., also is chairman of Smart USA.

The model we are gonna get is the Smart FourTwo, a mini two seater, will start the introduction of Smart to the American people. They have been sold in Canada since 2004 so the transition should not be that hard. The Smart’s base price is $11,590. A fully loaded Smart Fortwo Passion convertible goes for $16,950. The car gets about 40 miles per U.S. gallon.

Seems that this has been long overdue. We will have to wait and see now just how well the American buying public will take to it. Hopefully it will be as popular here as it has been overseas.