German premium auto brand Mercedes-Benz's new smart fortwo minicar officially hit the Chinese market on Thursday, targeting young drivers in the nation's crowded cities.
The vehicle, which made its Asian debut at the Shanghai auto show in April, is priced at 125,000 yuan ($20,125) to 136,000 yuan.
There are two models available so far.
The newest model is 2.695 meters long, 1.663 meters wide and 1.555 meters tall. The wheelbase is 1.873 meters.
Compared with the previous model, the new model is a bit wider, but it is smaller in terms of length and height.
Other car companies offer similar vehicles, such as Volkswagen AG's up!, which was brought to Chinese consumers in February. The up! model is priced between 116,900 yuan and 129,900 yuan.
Mercedes-Benz reported rapid first-half growth in China, with total sales, including the smart brand, up 23 percent year-on-year to about 165,000 units. Overall growth in China's passenger car market was a meager 4.8 percent.
The company has set a sales target of 300,000 units in China this year, and analysts said that won't be difficult to achieve.
Rival Audi AG sold 274,000 vehicles in the first half, up 1.9 percent, while BMW's sales reached 230,000 units, up 2.5 percent.
Audi adjusted its 2015 China sales target to 600,000 units from the original 700,000 units, media reported earlier this month.
BMW also cut its 2015 sales target after a group of BMW dealers complained at the end of 2014 that they had been under pressure to fulfill the company's sales target, but the automaker did not reveal more details media reports said.
"The rapid growth of Mercedes-Benz is in line with expectations, and I believe it will further narrow the gap with Audi and BMW in China," Zhu Bin, a senior analyst at Shanghai-based consultancy LMC Automotive, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Several years ago, Mercedes-Benz had different distribution channels for imported and domestically produced cars, leading to internal competition and hurting its China sales.
The sales channels were unified at the end of 2012, and since then its sales have been climbing steadily.
