Relatively expensive, yes. They are built for a particular market: young/yuppie types who live in extremely densely populated areas. Sure it costs the same as a nice normal car - but you simply can't fit a normal car into the parking spaces this thing is designed for. It was created for European cities, not American freeways.
Yeah, I realize it's built for a certain market, CT. I also think it's much tougher for an auto to be successful without the U.S. market; not impossible, of course, but certainly tougher. And I think they're gonna hit major resistance over here at the current price point. I think the historically common-sense perspective of the American people and how they value things will come into play bigtime. I believe when people look at it and see how little is there, and how cheap it must be to manufacture the thing, there's gonna be a disconnect. It's why software makers send retailers big, substantive looking boxes in which to sell a CD.
MM
It was also created for a market where gas costs more than twice as much as here. I had a long commute in Germany and a car that got 29mpg (actual recorded, not sticker). I calculated that in using a smart for the commute, the savings at the pump would more than make the smart's payments.