2015 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe on 2040-cars

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2016 Smart Fortwo Cabrio is for sunny urban climes

If you're looking for a smart urban car but don't want a roof over your head, Smart has just what you're looking for. The car you see above is the brand-new Smart Fortwo Cabrio, and it has just made its official public debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. Our images are of a white car with a silver safety cell, but rest assured, there are any number of color combinations to satiate the inner designer in each one of us. There are a couple ways to configure the new Smart Cabrio. First, obviously, you can leave the canvas top in place for ultimate protection from the elements, or you can slide it back like a targa. For those wanting to really feel the wind in their hair, Smart says its sliding roof can fold back like a true convertible in just 12 seconds, but then a pair of roof bars will then need to be manually removed and stored away in the tailgate. A glass rear window with heating elements is a practical choice. Besides the convertible roof, the only real styling change from the hardtop is a thinner B-pillar, but that apparently doesn't reduce safety, thanks to additional reinforcements in the so-called tridion safety call. The Smart Cabrio has passed all relevant governmental tests, and in addition has been subjected to a battery of internal metrics to ensure its structure is sound. Two engines will be available at launch, in Europe at least, both with three cylinders. The base engine puts out 71 horsepower, while a 90-hp version is optional. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual or automatic dual-clutch gearbox. If you want more details on the 2016 Smart Cabriolet, click here, but not before you check out our high-res image gallery above. Related Video:

E.U. executive conditionally approves Daimler, BMW car-sharing deal

BRUSSELS — The European Union's competition authority said on Wednesday it had approved the plan of German luxury carmakers Daimler and BMW to combine their car-sharing businesses, subject to conditions. Under the deal, which includes car-sharing units Car2Go and DriveNow as well as ride-hailing, parking and charging services, Daimler and BMW will each hold 50 percent stakes in a joint venture. They have offered concessions to address E.U. antitrust concerns over the deal they hope would let them better compete with U.S. rival Uber and China's Didi Chuxing. The European Commission has found the deal would raise competition concerns for free-floating car sharing services in Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna. It said Daimler and BMW agreed to a remedy package in the six cities. "The commitments thus fully address the Commission's concerns as they will reduce the barriers to entry for competing free-floating car sharing providers," the Commission said in a statement. "Therefore the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns. The Commission's decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments." Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Philip Blenkinsop. Related Video:

Daimler to sell half its stake in Smart to Geely, Reuters reports [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Reuters on Tuesday reported that Daimler AG is nearing the sale of a 50 percent stake in its small-car brand Smart to China's Geely Automobile Holdings, the Financial Times said on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The sale will be confirmed before the Shanghai Auto Show in April, FT said. Both Daimler and Geely declined a Reuters request for comment. Last year, Geely built up an almost 10 percent stake in Daimler in a $9 billion bet by its chairman and became the biggest shareholder in Daimler. Previous story appears below: A new report from Germany's Handelsblatt says Daimler will decide the fate of its money-losing Smart microcar brand by year's end. Dieter Zetsche and his signature white mustache will retire in May, taking his support for the brand with him, and designated successor Ola Kallenius was steeped in Mercedes-Benz's AMG world of performance cars. Meanwhile, Kartrin Adt, a former Daimler Human Resources VP who took over as head of Smart last September, has yet to formulate a strategy to steer the brand to profitability and has reportedly focused on energizing the brand and looking for a partner in China, including with Volvo owner Geely. "Ola has no history with the Smart," Handelsblatt quotes an unnamed insider as saying, and no scruples about burying the brand. It's not the first time the brand's future has been cast into doubt. Last fall, rumors circulated that Renault was likely to pull the plug on its partnership that created the Smart ForTwo and Renault Twingo, which share a platform. The publication said the brand hit an all-time global sales high of more than 150,000 in 2004, and it's been mostly downhill since then, having never turned a profit since its introduction two decades ago. According to CarSalesBase.com, sales of the ForTwo have dropped from a high of 24,622 in its first year in the U.S. in 2008 to just 1,276 last year. In Europe, Smart sold 62,361 FourTwo models last year, and 97,346 vehicles in total. Smart's latest plan is to convert to an all-electric urban mobility brand, though that might be too costly, and hence the shopping for a partner in China. At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, Smart showed what it called the Forease+, a curious two-seater concept and update on the Forease shown last year in Paris. It features a hard fabric shell roof with a soft fabric cover with no side or rear windows and no climate control.