smart

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Smart Automobile is an automotive branch of Daimler AG that specialises in manufacturing microcars. It is headquartered in Böblingen, Germany and has its main factory in Hambach, France. Its vehicles are marketed as smart, in all lower-case, with a brand logo that incorporates a letter c for compact and an arrow for forward thinking. The design concept for smart cars began in the late 1980s, associated at the time with the Swatch brand of watches. After a period of backing by Volkswagen, the first model was finally launched by Daimler-Benz in October 1998. Several variants on the original design have been introduced, but the original design, now called the Fortwo, is the most enduring. It is now in its second generation, and an electric version is also available. Smarts are marketed widely including in Asia, North and South America, Australia and in Europe. Although small, they have met crash and passenger safety tests and requirements in many countries. They have been the subject of many conversions and design improvements by third parties, including electric conversions, performance upgrades, and design enrichments. Brabus tuned production smarts are widely available.