A Cool Commute

Birmingham's Marc Jonna has his eye on a Smart Fortwo convertible, a tiny car he first saw while on vacation in Europe. And Jonna's got 99 bucks (in the form of a reservation with Smart USA) that says he'll be getting one when Smart begins selling cars in the U.S. in early 2008.

As a co-founder of Plum Market in Bloomfield Township, Jonna knows a thing or two about lifestyle purchases. The upscale gourmet grocery store he founded with his brother, Matt, specializes in natural, organic and local foods and caters to a consumer who's willing to put their buying power behind a progressive ideal – and to reap the benefits.

The Smart car strikes a lot of the same chords. It's small, nimble, and fuel-efficient. And it's really, really fun.

"It's definitely a lifestyle car," Jonna said. "It's very cool to drive one. It's almost like going to Starbucks instead of just getting coffee. It's that kind of emotional attachment."

High gas prices, crowded cities and a desire to do a good turn for the environment attract people like Jonna to look at vehicles that are more than just a way to get from A to B. And they're finding that getting there in a way that's better for the earth and easier on the budget doesn't have to be the transportation equivalent of eating your Brussels sprouts.

Two-wheeling it

According to the 2006 American Community Survey an estimated 84 percent of workers in southeastern Michigan drive to work alone. And if you're going to ride alone anyway, why haul along the extra seats?

A few months ago Justin Dykhouse, 30, stopped driving his Honda Accord the 15 miles, round trip from his home in Ypsilanti to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology in Ann Arbor, where he works as an assistant curator. It was a gas-saving measure more than anything, but Dykhouse says he's always liked scooters, and it wasn't long before he answered an ad in Craigslist for a TNG Baja scooter.

"On the moped sometimes on large roads I'd get passed," he said. "I wasn't able to go the speed limit. But on my scooter I can keep up with traffic; I can dart in between lanes if I need to. It's really easy to drive defensively on them because they're so maneuverable. They stop and accelerate very quickly."

Motorcycle registrations, which include street-legal motorscooters with 50cc or larger engines, have been climbing steadily in Michigan most of the decade. In August 2003 there were 192,035 motorcycles registered in the state. As of this August that number was 243,646. And though scooters still represent just 3.5 percent of the national motorsports market, Dealernews, a California-based motorsports industry magazine, forecasts 2007 sales to be up by almost 10 percent over 2006.

People are flocking to scooters for much the same reasons they're looking at Smart cars, says Jason Dietrich, manager at Scoot Around Town, a full-service scooter shop in Ypsilanti that serves Ann Arbor and the west side of Detroit.

"They're buying scooters because they're of sick of high gas prices, sick of it being hard to park in downtown Ann Arbor, and because they want to have fun," Dietrich said.

"And some people just don't feel comfortable on a motorcycle. They're just more comfortable on a scooter."

Dykhouse also joined the seven-month-old Ann Arbor Area Scooter Club. Unlike a lot of clubs, the A3SC isn't limited to any one brand of scooter. It's members meet weekly in Ann Arbor to ride and socialize, and several, like Dykhouse, would rather scoot than drive.

"It's a lot more fun to drive a scooter," Dykhouse said. "Parking for my scooter is free, where I have to pay to park my car, and I can also park in a lot more locations. And it gets 90 miles to the gallon."

Get Smart
 

Smart, born of collaboration between Mercedes and Swatch, has been selling cars in Europe since 1998, but Mercedes saw no market for the car in the U.S. 10 years ago.

"Ten years ago we didn't think it was the right time for Smart," said Ken Kettenbeil, spokesman for the Bloomfield Hills-based Smart USA "SUVs were king of the road, gas prices at the time were not as high. Now with all these things converging, plus more environmental awareness, it seems like the right time for Smart to hit our shores."

Toyota and Honda are already in the gas-sipping sub-compact market with 2007 models geared toward people who want a reliable, low cost, fuel-efficient car. Both the Toyota Yaris liftback and the Honda Fit boast up to 40 mpg, and at about 12 feet long, five feet tall and five ½ feet wide, these cars definitely fit bill for small and nimble. The Yaris starts at $11,500 and Toyota reports Yaris sales as of August are up 40 percent from last year. The Fit starts at $13,900.

But nobody's doing small quite like Smart. The American version of the Fortwo is just 8.9 feet long and about 5 feet wide - roughly a foot longer and a foot wider than a golf cart. With its 50-city "Street Smart" road show tour a little more than half completed, Kettenbeil says more than 40,000 people have come out to look at or drive the cars since May, and more than 20,000 have paid $99 to reserve one.

"There's just something about the Smart car," said Jonna, whose current everyday car is an Audi. "It drives really fun. It feels like you're almost driving an electric car; it's very responsive. I'm not a great parallel parker, but I could parallel park this car anywhere. You could almost park it sideways (in a parallel space)."

The Fortwo gets better than 40 mpg and starts at $12,000. But more than that it captures an attitude. The typical Smart buyer is an early adopter who doesn't mind getting noticed for being innovative. Some are first-time buyers, others live in big cities and want something nimble and easy to park. There are families like Jonna's, looking for a third car to save gas on those short trips. And there are people who just don't need a big car, but at every stage the attitude prevails.

"That's the unique thing about this car," said Ron Gaul, owner of ASmartcar.com in St. Louis. Gaul sells European Smart cars converted to meet U.S. safety and emissions standards. The European versions of the Fortwo are actually a few inches smaller than the ones that will be available here next year. Gaul estimates there are 1,000 of them on the roads. (Incidentally, the price of driving an original is about $10,000 more than the 2008 models). And though Smart USA distances itself from the "greymarket" converted vehicles, both camps say the car is something special. "It's a cult-like following," Gaul said. "You cannot envision how delighted these people are when they get these these cars. The cars are just so weird and cute, you can't go anywhere without people asking about them, almost to the point of pulling you off the road."