smart''s key message at the International Motor Show in Geneva is "smart forward!" At today''s press conference Ulrich Walker, President of Smart gmbh, presented a whole host of new products. Fascinating model variants and technical expertise in alternative drives are the highlights of smart''s presentation at the show. Within the framework of a press conference, Ulrich Walker also described the main factors that led to Smart achieving its targets in 2005: The 20% increase to the number of sales outlets, the further qualification of the dealer network and the focused marketing concept which brings Smart even closer to customers.

Potential for individualisation is a defining feature of all Smart models. So it''s no surprise that the number of special fortwo models that have been successfully launched on the market now totals 19. The Smart fortwo edition nightrun, edition red and edition grandstyle are being presented in Geneva. The latter has been sold more than 6,000 times within the space of just a few weeks! With the BRABUS and BRABUS Xclusive variants, attractive new equipment lines of the Smart forfour that are precisely tailored to the target group are now also available. Also on show in Geneva is the first car of a final small limited "collector’s edition" of the Smart roadster for collectors and enthusiasts.

The presentation of alternative drives is a further focus at smart''s almost 1000m2 stand. Putting these into series production would be a matter of ease – as Ulrich Walker demonstrated with the example of the Smart fortwo ev, the familiar two-seater Smart with electric drive. The Smart crosstown show car shows the technical feasibility of a hybrid drive. According to Walker "Its hybrid drive combines the advantages of a small, economical turbocharged petrol engine with the strengths of an electric drive that produces no emissions whatsoever." Visitors to Geneva are impressed by the attractive new interior ideas realised in the Smart crosstown and by its unusual matt paintwork. As well as the Smart crosstown, the Smart roadster "collector’s edition" and the Smart forfour BRABUS SBR, a further new model at smart''s stand in Geneva, also feature this completely new matt paintwork concept. Ulrich Walker is convinced that the combination of the new models, the qualified and extended distribution network, the focused marketing approach and the strength of the brand in its 36 markets resulted in sales growth for Smart in 2005 – for the seventh year running. According to Walker, the sum of these measures also forms the basis for "smart forward!"