smart wants to redefine itself in China.

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Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

On April 24, at the Beijing Auto Show, smart announced that pre-sales for its first luxury hatchback, the Elf #6, have begun, with a starting pre-sale price of 189,900 yuan.

For smart, this marks the next phase of its strategy in the Chinese market.

Over the past few years, smart has completed a rare brand relaunch—from a small car brand in the fuel era to a "new luxury" brand in the electric era. Now, with the debut of the Elf #6, smart enters its second phase: shifting from "brand return" to "scale competition."

Smart was once one of the most distinctive brands in the global automotive industry.

Small cars, individuality, urban lifestyle were its core labels for the past twenty years. However, during the rapid rise of new energy vehicles in China, these labels gradually lost their effectiveness—consumers began pursuing bigger spaces, longer range, and higher levels of intelligence.

In the industry’s view, a classic brand fears two things most: being left behind by the times, or trapped by itself. Smart chose to reinvent itself completely.

In recent years, smart has launched several pure electric products and rebuilt brand recognition. The launch of the Elf #6 indicates that the brand is no longer satisfied with its position as a "niche boutique car," but is entering the mainstream pricing competition.

The 189,900 yuan price is also a signal. It means that smart is trying to combine Mercedes-Benz design, European branding, and China’s new energy supply chain into a more competitive pricing structure. This is also how joint venture brands are learning to compete in China.

Under the pressure of scale, the Elf #6’s strengths are not just in design, but also in space, intelligence, efficiency, and comprehensive safety. Behind this is a reality: in the Chinese market, a single advantage can hardly constitute long-term competitiveness. Moreover, smart has clearly accelerated its moves in intelligence, such as standardizing lidar across all models and equipping them with advanced driver assistance systems.

In recent years, many international brands have been slow to transition to new energy in China, often due to lengthy global decision chains, delayed product definition, and insufficient local R&D authority. Smart's difference is that it has built its brand around the Chinese market since its relaunch, giving it faster responsiveness than traditional joint venture brands.

In fact, both Geely and Mercedes-Benz need smart to succeed.

For Mercedes-Benz, smart is an important gateway for reaching new users in a younger price range, as well as a pilot field for extending brand equity into the electric era. If smart loses its competitiveness, Mercedes-Benz will cede market share among young consumers.

On the other hand, Geely has built a diverse brand matrix with Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, etc., in recent years. But what makes smart special is that it combines global awareness and Chinese manufacturing efficiency, making it easier to serve as a scale-up model.

To some extent, smart is Mercedes-Benz's youth-oriented project and Geely's internationalization project. Both sides need it to succeed.

And after “growing from small to big,” smart has entered a truly tough battlefield. The price range around 200,000 yuan is one of the most crowded battlegrounds in China’s new energy market: luxury brands are reaching down, domestic brands are pushing up, and numerous startups are competing in the middle.

Here, sentiment cannot directly translate into sales, and brand stories cannot replace product strength. Smart has accomplished being “seen again” in recent years; next, it needs to solve “continuous purchase.” This is even harder than the brand reboot, because the former relies on novelty, the latter on system capability—supply chain efficiency, channel operations, product rhythm, software iteration, and continuous understanding of Chinese consumer needs.

For smart, this is a new gamble for an old brand.

The auto industry rarely gives old brands a second chance. Smart once had a distinctive place in the fuel era and also fell to the margins during its transformation. Now, with the combination of Mercedes-Benz and Geely, it has returned to the center stage.

What smart needs to prove is not just whether it can make a popular car, but whether a classic European brand can regrow scaling capability in a new energy era dominated by China.

If it succeeds, smart will become a model for the transformation of global car brands. If it doesn’t, it will still remind the industry: brand equity is important, but in the new energy era, efficiency is even more important.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks, and investment should be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account individual users' specific investment objectives, financial situations, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular circumstances. Investments made accordingly are at their own risk. ```