(Yicai) Jan. 26 -- Smart, the electric microcar marque produced by a joint venture of Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and China’s Geely Automobile Holdings, has been aggressively expanding its global retail network even as sales in China declined over the last two years.

Smart’s sales in China fell more than 7 percent in 2025 from the year before, marking a second consecutive annual decrease, while its worldwide store numbers were up 25 percent in the same 12-month period.

Smart initially set a sales target of 120,000 vehicles for 2025, but later slashed it to 80,000, Wu Yang, a manager at a Smart store in Shanghai, told Yicai.

On New Year’s Day, Smart launched a limited-edition Smart #1 model for the 'Year of the Horse,’ slashing the price by CNY15,000 (USD2,150) from the standard edition to CNY139,900 (USD20,000). The 1,000 units have yet to sell out.

“These ‘Year of the Horse’ vehicles were all produced last year and are being sold as part of a 1,000-unit clearance,” Wu said, “The real reason for this clearance is that Smart didn’t hit its sales targets last year.”

Smart has not yet disclosed its sales targets or actual sales figures for 2025. But data on newly insured vehicles indicate that the brand’s deliveries amounted to just over 30,000 autos, a more than 7 percent year-on-year drop.

Smart’s target for 2026 is still 80,000 cars, Wu said, adding that the brand plans to launch two more models this year on top of the three already on sale.

Meanwhile, expansion of Smart’s retail network is gaining pace, with its global store count growing 25 percent last year to 688. The number in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and Latin America soared 130 percent to 72, while that in China jumped 43 percent to 294.

Smart was set up in 1994 by Stuttgart-based Daimler and Swiss watchmaker Swatch, and is known for producing compact, distinctive two-door microcars. Its global annual sales peaked at 150,000 units, but due to the difficulties of targeting a niche market, Smart halted production in many markets between 2017 and 2019.

To revive the brand, Hangzhou-based Geely and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz set up an equal joint venture, Smart Automobile, in 2019 to transform Smart into a pure electric vehicle brand.

Other premium electric microcar brands have faced similar challenges to Smart. For example, Spotlight Automotive, a 50:50 joint venture between Germany’s BMW and China’s Great Wall Motor, produces electric versions of the Mini, which are also no longer selling so well.

Editor: Kim Taylor