The Swatch Maker's Tiny Car That Lost Billions

A Swiss watch tycoon wanted a tiny, colorful city car as cheap and fun as a Swatch. Mercedes-Benz built it. It nearly died in a famous test, lost huge amounts of money for years, and still changed how people think about small cars. This is the story of the Smart ForTwo. Sources: Wikipedia: Smart (marque) Wikipedia: Smart Fortwo Wikipedia: Moose test IIHS: Smart fortwo 2008 crash test ratings Automotive News Europe: Mercedes A-Class moose test crisis recalled Green Car Reports: Smart no more, why the end of the fortwo has been a long time coming Image credits (resized and cropped for video): Maps: Natural Earth (public domain). --- Voiceover is produced with AI text-to-speech. Licensed photos are credited above; other photos are courtesy of their respective owners; archival film is public domain. #history #cars #RayStricklandCars