The Smart Roadster (W452) is a two-door, two-seater sports car classified in the S-segment in Europe. It was first introduced in 2002 by Smart GmbH. The Roadster and its variant, the Roadster Coupé, enjoyed mostly successful sales during their production run. In total, approximately 43,000 units were produced before the model was discontinued in November 2005. The final Smart Roadster built now resides in the Mercedes-Benz Museum. It is defined by a consortium between Switzerland (Swatch), Germany (Mercedes-Benz) and France, whose vehicle remains "Made in France" because it is built entirely at its Hambach factory in Moselle.
History
The two-seat, 2.5 m long Smart City-Coupe (later named Smart Fortwo) was launched at the 1998 Paris Motor Show. This was the beginning of a new car brand and one of the more radical vehicle concepts to hit the European market since the bubble cars of the 1950s. It was also the beginning of a difficult period for Smart cars. The City Coupe had stability problems that were only discovered before the launch. This forced a package of alterations to be made that were both expensive and compromised the car's handling, ride, and gear shift. Public concerns over the car's stability, combined with Smart's elitist marketing and the sheer radicality of the car's design, proved damaging to initial sales. Production projections were slashed from 200,000 per year to 80,000 which was almost disastrous for a new brand with just one product.