Posted on 04/03/2005 10:33:30 AM PDT by traumer
DaimlerChrysler is to shake up its loss-making Smart car brand in a move that unions say will mean 700 job cuts.
The German-US car maker said it wanted to put Smart on a sound financial footing, and set the brand the goal of breaking even by 2007.
It said the restructuring would cost 1.2bn euros ($1.56bn; £824m), hit profits this year and bring job losses.
DaimlerChrysler said it would step up development of a new version of the compact car to suit the US market.
Production of Smart's roadster model is to end this year, and a sports utility vehicle project is being abandoned.
Cooperation on a four-seater Smart car would continue between Japan's Mitsubishi Motors and Smart, a unit of Mercedes, the company added.
It would also work with Mitusbishi and Nissan on a new engine.
'Significant' job cuts
The company said it wanted to cut fixed costs at the unit by 30% within two years.
It added that "the programme also includes significant workforce reductions," although it did not give details of how many jobs would be involved.
Smart highlights 1993: Mercedes starts feasibility study into a small car 1998: City-coupe launched 2000: Cabrio launched 2002: Crossblade launched 2003: Roadster launched
Smart employs 2,150 people. The company's union issued a statement which said 600 jobs would be lost at Smart's main plant in Boeblingen near Stuttgart, Germany, and about 100 posts would go at a factory in Hambach, France.
A further 300 jobs would be cut in the long term, it said.
DaimlerChrysler said it was continuing to fine-tune Smart's new business strategy and would finalise its plans by the end of April.
As part of the restructuring, key parts of Smart's development and sales operations would be integrated into that of Mercedes.
Earnings hit
Smart has not made a profit since its first car was released in 1998.
The two-seater Smart car has been promoted in the US but has not yet gone on sale. DaimlerChrysler had intended to launch the brand next year with the now-discontinued SUV.
In February, DaimlerChrysler announced that fourth-quarter operating profits for 2004 fell to 785m euros from 2.4bn euros in 2003 on the back of fierce competition.
The company said on Friday that the costs of the restructuring are expected to reduce earnings in 2005.
But excluding the exceptional charges, DaimlerChrysler said it still expected a slightly higher full-year operating profit this year compared with 2004.
There's a couple of those things in Dallas, running around as consular cars. They're funny to watch - the wake of a semi knocks them around unmercifully and even a passing medium SUV will "push" them to the opposite side of the lane.
The first thing to do is rename it the Dumb Car.
Amazing, isn't it?
Read a story a couple of days ago which said that this year, MB will recall more vehicles than they will manufacture.
Their attempts to pack *so* much technology into their cars has backfired...skid control, throttle-by-wire, etc.
Just goes to show that in some cases there's a threshold for high tech 'stuff'.
Somehow they do, but there's only four or so of them here; I suspect they don't get used much. Long term highway use of them would be hazardous to the occupants' health.
Butt ugly. Won't grace my garage anytime soon.
I've seen (customized) golf-carts bigger than that. Seriously.
Hmmm... 
You see these in all the cities in Europe. Heavy traffic, narrow streets. Don't see them in the US with a lot of Fry driving. Maybe Manhattan?
but noooooOOOOOOOooooooo !
*sigh*
LOL, just rename it MacSmart and the hard core mac users would adopt it blindly as the best SUV ever.
just kidding....
i hope....
True. These cars are perfect for Europe where they are particularly perfect for the streets. In the US they would probably be best only for the bigger Metro areas, particularly New York (Neauw Yawk). In most of the country they would be a serious hazard to the driver. Especially in the South West.
LOL, Texas Towncar...
Many european cities were established with donkey carts in mind. They still have ONE lane roads. I do not see NY City streets on par with that type of super narrow roads.
Did not Dihatsu try and enter the USA with such three cylinder underpowered vehicles? They went bust.
Who designed this car? Fisher-Price?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.