The boss of DaimlerChrysler's Smart says the company has rejected a billion-dollar purchase order from Zap, a California firm that had planned to import and federalize Smart cars for the US market. Zap, a publicly traded company, had collected orders for around 76,000 Smart Fortwo coupes throughout 2005. It remains to be seen whether Zap will be able to fulfill the orders through international suppliers, as it had asserted in a recent press release. According to Smart head, Ulrich Walker, a Smart car designed for the US market could be ready in 2007.
Daimler sees Smart's growth above average [Yahoo! Finance]
Related:
Will DaimlerChrysler Fill Zap s $1 Billion in Smart Orders? [internal]