Smart is continuing its pre-launch teasers for its #2 electric micro car, effectively revealing the final design in a series of bespoke murals in several “strategic hubs” – including Melbourne.
As part of the brand’s development strategy of “China-Europe Dual-Home, Global Expansion”, the Mercedes-Benz and Geely-owned brand has collaborated with artists in Melbourne, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, and soon Berlin and Paris, to create bespoke murals that “transform the upcoming new two-seater into a vibrant dialogue between premium design and urban culture”.
Each mural provides an early look at the electric city car’s final design, ahead of its global debut at the Paris motor show in October.
“By transforming the world’s most vibrant metropolises into an open-air gallery, this special initiative seamlessly intertwines modern electric mobility with authentic street culture, setting the stage for a spectacular return of the two-seater from smart ahead of its world premiere,” the company says in its media release.
The global campaign takes “centre stage” in Victoria’s capital of Melbourne, with a piece by contemporary artist and muralist, Georgia Laurie, located at Melbourne Central, along La Trobe Street between Swanston Street and Elizabeth Street.
Depicting a bright red Smart #2 amongst the city’s iconic Flinders Street Station and Arts Centre Spire, the artwork by Ms Laurie “integrates the vehicle into an immersive mural, blending her signature pop design and a vibrant colour palette with intricate detailing and cinematic visual storytelling”.
Smart says Melbourne is “Australia’s undisputed street art hotspot”, and the mural appears a strong indication that Australia is one of the key launch markets for the brand’s new electric city car.
“smart continues to explore opportunities to bring its products to customers globally. smart #1 and smart #3 are already available in Australia, and further information regarding smart #2 market availability will be shared at the appropriate time,” said a Smart spokesperson in a statement.
Australian distributor LSH Auto currently sells the#1and#3small electric SUVs Down Under, which share their Sustainable Experience Architecture 2 (SEA2) architecture with the likes of theZeekr XandVolvo EX30. TheTesla Model Y-rivalling #5 mid-size SUV has also previously been confirmed for a local launch.
Each of the murals is said to capture the #2’s ultra-compact footprint woven into each respective city’s heritage, energy and environment.
The Berlin and Paris artworks are still to be completed, with the German capital said to hold “deep significance to Smart and historically the stage for its mobility solutions and world premieres”.
As for la ville de l’amour, France’s capital will serve as the stage of the production #2’s world premiere, following the reveal of the Concept #2 in Beijing earlier this year.
The #2 will continue the lineage that started the brand back in 1998, when the two-seat, rear-engined, rear-wheel drive City-Coupe went into production. In 2002 it was renamed ‘ForTwo’, a name it kept until the third-generation model ceased production in 2024.
Last month the Ningbo-headquartered automaker released images of a camouflaged prototype undergoing “rigorous” development testing at the company’s proving grounds.
Styled by the Mercedes-Benz Global Design Team, the 2027 Smart #2 is touted as “the reinvented two-seater city car” which will deliver “unmatched urban agility, driving stability, elevated NVH refinement, and uncompromising safety”.
The company has also noted testing of various tyre compounds on a range of road surfaces and conditions to strike an “optimal balance between low rolling resistance for maximum range and exceptional noise reduction”.
Further, Smart is subjecting the #2 to targeted impact and durability testing on bumpy roads, potholed streets and continuous undulations, as well as impact tests in simulated city-driving scenarios involving mounting kerbs and hitting deeper potholes.