Smart Car Mats

A division of Daimler AG , Smart Automobile is a German automaker headquartered in Boblingen, Germany but with its main production plant in Hambach, France.

Founded in 1994, the compact car makers produced their first ever small car in 1998, called the Smart Fortwo. Smart have produced around 8 models throughout their short history, but the Fortwo is the only one still going today.

The original idea come in the late 1980s when Nicolas Hayek, then CEO of SMH (the makers of Swatch watches), started to develop a new car design using the kind of manufacturing strategies which made Swatch watches so popular. He thought the automobile manufacturing industry had missed a trick. There was a sector of the market out there who desired a small and compact yet stylish city car. Hayek didn't want to go it alone with his idea, for fear that other automakers would feel threatened, so he cooperated with another company in the industry. He approached Fiat, General Motors, Renault and BMW but was turned down by all of them, until he finally reached an agreement with Daimler-Benz AG.

The company has lots of green credentials. In the United States, the Smart Fortwo is the most fuel-efficient car with a petrol engine.