Daimler-Chrysler announced that U.S. consumers will finally get its tiny Smart car in 2008, but a car dealer in Kirkland that got smart a long time ago already has sold 80 of them since February.
Green Car, one of the largest dealers of Smart cars in the United States, imports them from Europe and has them modified to fit U.S. specifications. The company has sold them to customers in six states, said Service Manager Susan Fahnestock.
Fahnestock stated that her company is “out to reinvent the car dealership the way REI changed the sporting-goods store and Whole Foods remade the supermarket.”
She calls the company she founded with partners Don Fahnestock, her husband; and Greg Rock an "eco-friendly" car dealership, or the "anti-dealer."
Green Car has a showroom and a staff of eight, but no one works on commission. Instead of focusing on selling inventory, they work on matching a customer to the right car, based on driving habits.
"The main mission is to educate consumers about how their vehicle choices are affecting the environment, especially with regard to global warming," Fahnestock said.
The company, which grew out of a Volvo repair shop the Fahnestocks had for 10 years in Kirkland, also sells electric cars and converts gas vehicles to run on alternative fuels like biodiesel. In the future, it plans to add an ethanol fuel station and sell cars that run on ethanol.
The company took a do-it-yourself approach to the market: It didn't find enough family-size cars that run on diesel, so it decided to make their own.
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