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Little Debbie Does SmartCar

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:26:34 +0000

Little Debbie is rolling out an army of Smart Fortwo’s in order to promote their tasty brand of junk food. They began appearing in major cities several months ago, rolling in the bike lanes with trunks full of yummy cakes & coupons. Now we know the true nature of their visits.

The brand is launching a new cupcake and, much to our clogged arteries content, a 125,000 carton cupcake giveaway, a mobile tour, a Twitter feed, a YouTube channel, a Flickr photostream, event marketing, TV spots and blog posts (ahem, want to send me some cupcakes Little Debbie??) and the giving away of two Smartcars. From October 11 through December 12, a truck filled with branded Smart cars will stop in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Manchester, NH, Hartford, CT, Scranton, PA, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

“Our goal was to create a bigger-than-life campaign that could be leveraged across every medium imaginable,” says Luckie & Co. Executive Vice President/Creative Director Brad White. “Who could resist a Smart Car wrapped like a Little Debbie Cupcake? Come to think of it, who could resist a Little Debbie Cupcake?”

How Many Smartcar Lovers Are Out There?

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:38:20 +0000

Just how many Smartcar lovers are there in the world? Apparently, not as many in 2009 as there were in ’08. Sales are down almost 14% so far. Yet, it seems ever since the first Smart fortwo dropped on American soil I’ve seen the numbers of them driving around quadrupole – everyone from old geezers to new drivers and all in between seem to have one. But again, reports continue to surface that Smart sales are down since last year. So, why all the enthusiasts sites online?

Just Google “Smartcar Fans” and you’ll find pages upon pages of Smart fans from across the globe. One of our favorite sites is 451s.com, which takes its name for the model number Smart vehicles made post-2008 have. This site alone consists of fortwo drivers in Europe, Canada & the United States.

According to a recent BusinessWeek article: “German carmakers Daimler, BMW and Audi said Tuesday their August sales declined from year-ago levels, though all offered more upbeat assessments, indicating the sales trends of the economic downturn are abating.” At first, the steadying fuel prices were blamed for the slowing of Smart sales – but to be honest, until Cash for Clunkers came about, no brand witnessed a major incline of closed deals. “Mercedes, Smart and Maybachs said it saw strong contributions from several regions and expected more positive results from the release of new models…” As of this month Mercedes has only sold 78,600 Smart Units YTD. Guess we will have to wait and see what fortwo Cabrio CDi does for Smart’s pocketbook in ’10.

2011 Smart Car ED – Behind the Scenes

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:54:20 +0000

Over at Envy Motors in the UK, designers and researchers are trying to formulate the top alternative energy fuel cell technology. The 2011 Smart Car is blessed to be one of the first with a Zytek electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack supplied by Telsa Motors – yeah, that Tesla. According to Envy’s site: The benefits of Lithium-ion over conventional battery technology is that it increases battery life whilst reducing charging times. The batteries will sit underneath the passenger in the recess which was previously occupied by the conventional petrol tank.

Smart’s ED (Electric Drive) will be tested throughout 2009 and 2010, before it can be released publicly in 2011. Testing of the vehicle will range up to 100 miles and a full charge in 2-4 hours. Envy, the alternative auto maker, has been working with Smart for over 5 years now. They are currently taking £500 refundable deposits to secure one of the first UK Smart ED’s that will be available in the UK in early 2011. We’ll be keeping an eye out for further Smart ED news!

Source: Evny Motors