Dime skills

Swatchmobile boasts new technology
in unique Mercedes-Benz urban car

WHAT DOEKS the fashion-
able, off-beat watchmaker
Swatch have in common
‘ with Germany’s powerful,
conservative luxury carmak-
er Mercedes-Benz? Plenty,
_as it turns out.

.. If everything goes as planned,
Mercedes-Benz and Swatch will
_ jointly market a unique city car by
“1997 or 1998 that will look and feel
like no other Mercedes in the past.

-- “For many people, Swatch is
‘close to being a stark contrast to
Mercedes,” said Helmut Werner,
president and chief executive offi-
cer of Mercedes-Benz AG in

_ Germany. “All I can say is that this
is exactly what makes this coopera-
~ tion so interesting to us.”

‘The proposed two-seater micro-
car — which will be available as a
coupe and speedster -— is no doubt
the mos! radical project Mercedes |
has ever undertaken, and should -
bring an interesting twist to the -
ever-changing auto industry.

_-: The Swatchmobile project has
been the subject of numerous dis-
cussions in the past.

The project was originally con-
ceived by Nicolas Hayek, a founder
of Swatch and a president of a com-
pany called SMH (don’t ask me to
spell out the company name — it’s
60 characters long).

SMH, which owns Swatch, then
struck a deal with Europe’s largest
carmaker, Volkswagen, to jointly
develop Hayek’s dream city car.

-. However, VW dropped out of
the project some time ago, and
Mercedes-Benz then grabbed the
unique opportunity and ran with it.

The resulting momentum
allowed Mercedes to hit the first
milestone last month — it showed
off a pair of near-production proto-
type Swatch-cars called the Eco-
Sprinter and Eco-Speedster at its
headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

Officially dubbed the Micro
Compact Cars, they were specifi-

‘cally designed to meet the growing

demand for environmentally friend-
ly products, and as such they incor-
porate various elements of earth-
friendly features like recyclable
parts and coded components. The
roof of the Micro Compact Car
even has built-in solar cells which
provide power directly to the venti-
lation fan motor.

The environmental features

‘alone, however, won’t make the

customers flock to the showroom
—— this is where Swatch’s unique
design strategy comes into play.
“In Nicolas tiayek, we have
found an incredibly creative partner
who makes us see many things ina
completely different light,” contin-
ued Werner. “Up until now, we
have always held the view that
technical perfection can only be
achieved through ever-greater com-
plexity. We now begin to under-
stand that technical perfection is all
about developing individuality

from very simple elements.”

By utilizing the talents of
designers at Mercedes-Benz’s
California design studio and bor-
rowing ideas from Hayek, SMH
and Mercedes came up with an
exterior design that looks trendy,
fashionable and different.

See Design teams page 33

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