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The smart project was born in 1990 from a simple idea: to create a simple, streamlined city car. It was spearheaded at the time by Nicolas Hayek, who was then Chairman of Swatch, the Swiss watch manufacturer. In 1991, Volkswagen took an interest in the project but pulled out because of the crisis. Mercedes-Benz decided to take over, having already worked on a similar concept in-house. The first prototypes saw the light of day in 1994. After a rocky start, the small car enjoyed commercial success in the cities, thanks in particular to its flagship model: the smart Fortwo. Its big sister, the smart Forfour, was launched in 2004. It was later redesigned in 2014 to make way for the smart Forfour II, based on the Twingo III. smart has become a benchmark in terms of mini city cars. Today, smart is breaking new ground by offering only electric 100% models: the smart EQ Fortwo and the smart EQ Forfour.