Smart #2: Fortwo successor confirmed for 2026

Smart has confirmed it will return to the city car segment with a successor to its signature model, the Fortwo, that is due to arrive late next year.

Smart CEO Dirk Adelmann last year confirmed that the project was in the works, pending a feasibility study. Following the “successful” launch of the #5 (the large electric SUV that forms the other bookend in the brand’s line-up), it has now become viable and has entered the final stages of its design and development.

It will be named #2, in reference to its ancestor and its two-seat configuration, but it will slot into Smart’s line-up below the #1 crossover, as its smallest and most affordable model.

The #2 will be designed by Mercedes-Benz and built in China, most likely at one of several plants owned by its 50:50 joint-venture partner Geely. 

Technical specifications remain under wraps, but Smart has confi rmed it will be electric-only. Adelmann previously said the company was working on a new platform bespoke to the model but that the financial case for its development would hinge on finding a partner. 

“The [city car] segment is not huge in Europe. The best year for [the] Fortwo was around 100,000 units, and that’s not enough to justify a platform,” Adelmann told Autocar. “If you share this platform with partners – we’re still in evaluation – then you can also share the investment costs and the production site etc, and it starts making sense.” 

That the #2 has passed the feasibility stage suggests that Smart has indeed found a partner. But it is also possible that the brand has abandoned this in favour of an existing platform from the Mercedes or Geely portfolios.