Dogs are the solution to nearly every unhappiness.

I suppose this was a bit like those Miata-to-Z3 kits that were around in the ‘90s. You scratch your head now and wonder what the point was, but it made more sense in the period in which it was conceived. 

I don’t want this, but, like touch screens instead of knobs and buttons, something tells me that its probably cheaper to manufacture, so we’re going to all get it sooner or later regardless. Have to offset the cost of mandatory autonomous breaking and lane keeping assist, or whatever other system is going to have to…

I honestly think it was so that they would intentionally sell fewer cars. The Smarts must cost so much to build, and/or so much to federalize, that Daimler has concluded they can't turn a profit regardless of volume, so lower volume means lower losses. 

If it means them bringing us something RR with 4 seats, more power to them.

Aren’t Aixams about the same size as a Smart? They have a back seat, and the versions sold outside France aren’t all that much slower. 

Every trip I’ve taken over the past several years:

Smart only sells electric cars in the US, they haven’t had an ICE in their American lineup for several years. It really hasn’t done wonders for their sales figures. 

Daimler seems to have been actively trying to kill Smart in the US for years now.

It was routine SOP at Air West, gate agents had to ask arriving pilots what their flight number was and what city they had just come from.

It does sound pretty smart, lop off some customers from Jeep and Toyota who arent totally brand loyal and lure in some new ones that wouldn’t have considered the other two.

I know the UK has a mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots, but this still reminds me of those stories you see from time to time where some elderly guy in Connecticut gets in his car to visit the post office, and turns up in North Carolina several days later confused and dehydrated. 

I kind of wonder if Ford is positioning it as a middle ground, sort of overlapping the Wrangler and 4Runner. 

Well, a 2-door body style and removable roof and doors should provide some differentiation. 

Easy to get in and out of, fairly bland styling, low prices, and easy credit terms. Mitsubishis are ideally suited to the Old Country Buffet parking lot. 

Toyota with the 4Runner is the next closest, but a pretty different package. 

The Wrangler's windshield frame doesn't fold anymore anyway, just the glass. 

Technically, yeah, I suppose the Squareback was just a 2-door station wagon unless you want to emphasize the Porsche family relationship.

Production stopped back in 2017, the factory is owned by a Chinese company now, but I have no idea what they’re doing with it.

Specifically, a 2-door wagon with sporting pretensions, not just any old utilitarian wagon (usually based on a sports/GT car).