Which means that when it comes to
maneuverability in places like cities—
and the car is positioned by Winkler
and all of her colleagues as an "urban
vehicle," particularly for what they refer
to as "smart cities," which are places
with high trafc density, narrow roads,
little parking space inhabited by those
with environmental consciousness,
creativity and a pioneering spirit, places
like Portland and San Francisco, Rome
and Paris—the smart is superb. At least
for the turning capability.
t The smart fortwo is
manufactured in Hambach,
France, in a complex that's
centered on a central
assembly building that's
shaped like a plus sign: the
long external arms of each
of the branches allows the
feeding of modules and parts
to the assembly line. There
are a variety of supplier
buildings surrounding the
main building.
then the fortwo may really come onto
its own in a big(ger) way.
Although one might think that being
a small car it is an economy car,
which tends to mean something with
discount features, Winkler says, "This
car is about premium." At the very
least, realize that this is a Mercedes-
Benz product (yes, smart is a Daimler
company). Consequently, the level
of materials in the vehicle is high;
the engine and transmission are both
Dr. Winkler refers to the car as "the
hardware." That is, she sees it as being
an element in a larger system, which
also includes a software element, with
the software facilitating a mobility
system. So as there becomes more of
a multi-modal environment, where
people use cars ft for purpose rather
than ft for essentially everything (i.e.,
how often do you see a fve-passenger
sedan—or SUV—being driven by one
person?), an environment predicated on
a network of, well, networked vehicles,
AD&P; > November 2015 > FEATURE > On the smart fortwo > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com
30