Mercedes May Kill Smart Within A Decade And Make Its Own Supermini

As the Mercedes-Benz range expands with more and more electric models, it’s reported that the Smart brand will be ditched altogether.

Automobile Magazine claims that Renault will pull out of its partnership in producing Smart cars when the current ForFour and Twingo reach the end of their lifecycles.

With this in mind, Mercedes will apparently kill off the Smart brand by 2026 at the earliest, leaving the automotive world without one of its cutest vehicles. Mercedes could still have a future in the segment, however.

A new face for Daimler superminis.

One train of thought is that under the helm of chief executive Ola Kallenius, Daimler may decide to launch a Mercedes-Benz supermini to rival the likes of the Audi A1 and Mini. Such a vehicle wouldn’t share its underpinnings with the all-new A-Class as converting the platform and shrinking it would be too costly.

Instead, the most likely scenario is that the next-generation A-Class, probably arriving in 2025, will ditch its current MFA2 architecture in favor of a fully scalable, all-new convergence layout codenamed MX1. This platform will underpin a host of future Mercedes-Benz models and will support BEV, PHEV, and ICE powertrains.

Mercedes-Benz discussed teaming up with BMW to develop the MX1 platform and a larger MX2 architecture last year but BMW ended the talks. Nevertheless, a supermini Mercedes has been the subject of various feasibility studies and is currently known as the U-Class. If this model sees the light of day, it could be offered in a selection of different forms, including as a three-door and five-door hatch, as an on-demand shared transportation vehicle, and as a small panel van.