Paying attention to the economic growth in China, it is really not that hard at all to see why there are an ever increasing number of automakers that see the Chinese market as a lucrative automotive market. Now, Smart, too, is planning to target the Chinese market, before it aims those other markets in the world. As a matter of fact, the German automotive brand under Daimler-Chrysler is now planning to leave Italy and even its home country, Germany, behind. The said brand is expecting China to be its leading market in the foreseeable future.
Annette Wrinkler, CEO Smart, points out that the company is seeing rapid sales growth of its vehicles in the origin country of pandas. It seems that Smart is not affected by the Chinese people’s switch of appetite for the luxury automotive brands. This is quite ironic. As reported by Reuters, quoting Wrinkler, there were not many people who believed that Smart would end up as quite a successful brand in China. This was due to the fact that the people of China were all about big cars, mostly. Yet, somehow, for the past few months, there have been an increasing number of demands for Smart vehicles. The aforementioned automotive brand also announced this in a recent event in Shanghai, China, during the 5th anniversary of the company’s business in the country.
Smart managed to sell 17,500 examples of its vehicle models back in the year 2013. This year, the company claims that it is selling even more than that. As revealed by Daniel Lescow, the president of Smart China, this year’s sale is going to be a record.
The compact car manufacturer in question will also launch new models in China next year. The models include the all-new Smart ForFour and Smart ForTwo. Lesco also believes that the company will benefit from a double digit sales growth starting from next year. The reason is because there will be an ever increasing number of young buyers in the country that will become more capable of affording a Smart vehicle. After all, prices start from just 115,000 Chinese Yuan, or equivalent to around $18,589, which is quite an affordable price.
