Competitors to smart cars

[purplepolarbear]

Why aren't there any competitors to Smart cars? - they are not exactly PH, but there are lots of them about and you can see they are convenient for people without families who live in cities and who aren't that interested in driving.

Surely the market is large enough for one or more of the larger manufacturers to have profitably have built a competitive 2 seater car by now.

[dougc]

I suppose you could say the closest thing is the iQ but Toyota have squeezed 2 seats in the back...

[Justayellowbadge]

Think some newbie car designer in a Hawaiian shirt might be having a go.

[wrighty78]

I suspect we'll see more manufacturers giving it a go over the next few years.

As an aside, I was driven about 30 miles up the M1, in the rain, in a Smart ForTwo (or whatever they're called) a couple of weeks ago. Far and away the scariest and worst four-wheeled experience of my 31 years. Never again.

[v1paul]

They should start selling Kei cars over here like the Suzuki Cappuccino. The japs have made some really good little cars over the years.

[excel monkey]

The Toyota IQ is only a foot longer than the Smart, and finds room for a back seat.

Otherwise, I guess the only "competitors" are small-volume Aixam and Ligier quadricycles.

[10JH]

G-Whiz is a competitor too, but it's crap!

Toyota iQ gets fairly good reviews, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV will be a competitor when it comes out too.

[Dog Star]

excel monkey said:

The Toyota IQ is only a foot longer than the Smart

I thought it wasn't even that much longer. The IQ looks absolutely brilliant, it has to be said.

[Silent1]

You can they're called kei cars but unfortunately they're JDM only really