The original Smart Fortwo was many things to many people. In European cities where parallel parking a normal car required geometry and patience, it was a revelation. You could fit two of them in a single bay. It became an icon in the same way the Mini and the Fiat 500 became icons... not because it was the best car of its era but because it was the most unapologetically itself.
Smart discontinued the Fortwo in 2024 after nearly three decades of production. The brand, now jointly owned 50/50 by Mercedes-Benz and China's Geely and headquartered in Ningbo, had moved steadily upmarket through a series of increasingly large electric SUVs. The #1, the #3, the #5 crossovers got bigger with each number. A saloon, the #6, was unveiled at Beijing this week alongside the new concept. Smart, it appeared, was not a small car brand anymore.
And then they announced the #2.
What it is
The Smart Concept #2, unveiled at the Beijing motor show on Wednesday 23 April, is the clearest preview yet of what the production #2 will look like. It is unmistakably a spiritual successor to the Fortwo. The same short overhangs, the same wheels pushed to the corners, the same two door two seat silhouette that made the original so distinctive in a car park full of sensible family hatches.
New elements include more pronounced wheel arches, a cleaner overall surface treatment, and headlights that reference the current Smart family design language. The concept features some details that will not survive to production... leather straps in place of door handles, transparent aero covers over the wheels, a small matrix screen at the rear that can display messages, and a floating roof finished in shiny gold. The production car will be toned down. The core shape, though, is the statement.
The Concept #2 measures 2,792 mm in length, making it the largest interpretation of the two door city car that Smart has ever built. That is still considerably shorter than almost anything else on sale.
According to Carscoops, the production Smart #2 will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, ahead of its market launch. The car is primarily focused on Europe and the UK, though Smart has confirmed it will also launch in China and selected global markets.
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How it is built and what it will cost
The #2 rides on a brand new platform called the Electric Compact Architecture, developed jointly by Geely and Mercedes specifically for this car. This is notable because every other Smart in the current range was engineered entirely by Geely and designed by Mercedes. The ECA is the first platform they have developed together, reflecting that the European city car market has different requirements to the larger SUV segment where Smart has been playing.
Autocar reports that the platform can accommodate a dual motor setup, and Smart has confirmed that the turning circle will match the legendary Fortwo... which could spin around in spaces that baffled larger vehicles.
Production will be in China. The design is by Mercedes-Benz.
Pricing is expected to start at around €20,000 according to InsideEVs, with a battery pack of approximately 30 kilowatt hours. That range figure will be the critical number, given that the final generation electric Fortwo managed just 99 miles on the EPA cycle. Three decades of battery development should have taken care of that... but the short wheelbase of a city car still limits how large a pack can be fitted.
The honest question
€20,000 for a two seater with a small battery is a harder sell in 2026 than it would have been a decade ago. For roughly the same money, a buyer in Europe can now get a BYD Dolphin Surf, a Citroën e-C3 or a Renault 5... all of which seat four or five people and offer more range. The Smart #2's case rests entirely on the one thing those cars cannot replicate: the ability to park in a space nobody else can use.
In cities where parking costs more than petrol ever did and a 2.8 metre car fits where a 4 metre car cannot, that remains a genuine argument. Whether it is a €20,000 argument depends very much on whether you live somewhere with a chronic shortage of parking... or somewhere that does not.
Smart made the city car segment what it is. It walked away from it in 2024. The #2 is the brand admitting that was a gap worth filling.
Production deliveries are expected in 2027.
Sources:
- Smart official press release — Smart Confirms Reinvention of Iconic City Car
- Autocar — Smart #2 Concept previews design for Fortwo successor
- Carscoops — Smart Goes Back To Its City Car Roots With Concept #2
- InsideEVs — The Smart Car Is Coming Back, This Time Fully Electric
- Autocar — Smart #2 Fortwo successor begins testing ahead of 2026 launch
