Big Car's video: The Swatchmobile ABANDONED by its creators ft Techmoan The Smart Fortwo Story

If a car is wildly successful, it’s a recipe for printing money. If it’s an abject failure, the manufacturer licks their wounds and moves on. What’s maybe worse is when a car just does OK, especially when this car kicks off a whole new brand. Should you invest in a second-generation car, or more models, or give up? Will sales improve? What if they don’t? What to do with all those new dealerships? When the Smart Fortwo launched as the Smart City Coupé, neither of its parents were sure they should have birthed it, and that’s never a good start. Just why did the Volkswagen Swatchmobile become a joint project between Mercedes and Chinese company Geely, and just how successful was this fun little city car? Optional Extra bonus video: https://youtu.be/-T0pgjYTYq0 If you'd like to support what I do, and get early access to advert-free videos and exclusive channel updates, please consider supporting the channel from just $1 or 80p a month: http://patreon.com/bigcar Support me using PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigcartv Big Car merch: https://teespring.com/stores/bigcartv Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigcartv My second channel - Little Car: https://www.youtube.com/littlecar Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swatch_Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_(marque) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_(Automarke) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Fortwo https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Fortwo https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Hayek https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/triumph-eines-tueftlers-a-cba184a4-0002-0001-0000-000013687006?context=issue http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-swatch-group-sa-history/ https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/volkswagen-baut-das-swatch-auto-a-e8b763df-0002-0001-0000-000013489815 https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/kommt-das-oeko-auto-a-f388c814-0002-0001-0000-000013488132 https://www.below-the-radar.com/mcc-smart-eco-speedster-eco-sprinter/ https://mercedesblog.com/smart-forefathers-eco-sprinter-eco-speedster/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cree_SAM https://web.archive.org/web/20210418030214/http://www.3wheelers.com/cree.html https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mut-zur-muecke-a-2b2a0167-0002-0001-0000-000013684310 https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mini-mit-maetzchen-a-742f4cd1-0002-0001-0000-000009207156 https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/motorrad-von-mercedes-a-3d4e0cd2-0002-0001-0000-000008906223 https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/modell-fuer-mercedes-a-f611ceb8-0002-0001-0000-000008799308 https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/wir-sind-ziemlich-begeistert-a-b729c860-0002-0001-0000-000008707195 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuanghuan_Noble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuanghuan_Noble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Roadster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Forfour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Crosstown https://web.archive.org/web/20100411022619/https://blogs.motortrend.com/6209443/car-news/smarts-three-year-loss-more-than-5-billion-report-says/index.html https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/daimler-hickhack-neue-verwirrung-um-zukunft-des-smart-a-328235.html https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-329425.html https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/kleinwagen-amerikaner-bestellen-20-000-smarts-a-488840.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_iQ https://www.euroncap.com/en/search-results/?query=smart+fortwo&x=0&y=0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4LB3xKRfmk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Formore https://group-media.mercedes-benz.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/The-smart-fortwo-micro-hybrid-drive-mhd-Even-more-economical-and-environmentally-friendly-thanks-to-startstop-function.xhtml?oid=9919399 https://www.euroncap.com https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/autoindustrie/daimler-stellt-neuen-smart-vor-a-981458.html https://www.la.mercedes-benz.com/en/passengercars/mercedes-benz-cars/models/e-mobility/project-eq/experience-eq/future-of-mobility/eq-fortwo.html https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/autoindustrie/daimler-smart-wird-kuenftig-nur-noch-als-elektroauto-verkauft-a-1153384.html https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/autoindustrie/elektroauto-smart-wegen-engpaessen-lange-nicht-lieferbar-a-1189399.html https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/smart-daimler-gruendet-joint-venture-mit-geely-aus-china-a-1260050.html https://jalopnik.com/fun-is-dead-at-smart-1846058184 https://de.smart.com/de/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_electric_drive