smart forfour

Mercedes-Benz’s platform partner for its next smart car set for a 2013 debut will be Renault. “It’s a key component in plans to grow the Smart brand. We’re looking to diverge into other potentially lucrative market segments, and not only in Europe but on a worldwide basis, including North America,” said a Mercedes-Benz official to ANE.

Renault will be supplying smart a platform for a new four-seater smart (effectively a replacement for the smart forfour) and the word is that it will be a modified version of the Clio II platform that underpins the Renault Twingo, though I would have thought the Renault-Nissan B platform (Clio III, Latio, Logan, etc) would be more suitable in size for a smart forfour replacement.

The smart forfour was a hatchback based on the Mitsubishi Colt and was produced at Mitsubishi’s Dutch NedCar plant. Who knows, we could also see an electric version using technology from the Nissan Leaf.

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