Not Only Indonesia, Smart Will Also Paving In Australia

JAKARTA - The smart, an automotive brand owned by Mercedes-Benz and Geely, will return to greet the Australian public after leaving the market about a decade ago. This is evidenced by two of its electric SUVs that have been approved for sale in fugitive countries.

Launching from CarExpert, Thursday, June 20, Australia's largest Mercedes-Benz retailer LSH Auto, confirmed it will start selling EV Smarts across its local network starting July and will ship it in September.

Now, Australian Government documents confirm Smart #1 and #1 have been approved for sale in Australia in 5-6 variants each, including performance-oriented Brabus versions.

The #3 model will be offered in five variants and the Smart #1 also features a rear-wheeled driven variant (RWD) with joint Pro-type specifications. It is equipped with a 49 kWh battery and an electric motor mounted behind with a magnitude of 200 kW.

Meanwhile, Smart #1 will utilize a 66 kWh battery with a power of up to 200 kW on Pro+ and Premium RWD types. For Pulse and Brabus types, they offer powertrain driving all double motorcycle wheels with 271kW and 315kW of power output, respectively.

Apart from Australia, this brand will also be reintroduced to the Indonesian market through the 2024 Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) on July 18-28. The brand also had time to decorate the country's market before deciding to leave Indonesia a few years ago.

Smart Automobile Co., Ltd was founded in 1994 under the umbrella of Micro Compact Car AG (MCC), a joint venture between SMH and Daimler-Benz. MCC became a subsidiary owned by Daimler-Benz in 1998 and changed its name to Smart GmbH.

In 2006, the brand was acquired by DaimlerChrysler and made it a brand in the Mercedes-Benz car division. While under this division, Smart only offers models like Fortwo coupe, Fortwo convertible, and Forfour hatchback.

Starting in 2019, Daimler announced a joint venture with Geely in continuing the formation of Smart with a 5.4 million yen deal involving a new production plant in China as the newest vehicle assembly site.

Since then, Smart has started sticking its nails again in the automotive industry, especially in the electrification sector. With the Geely SEA platform, the car that was first built in the Mercedes and Geely era was #1 which was introduced as a concept in 2021 before starting production a year later.