No. 98 - Smart?

This morning as I was driving to work I saw a Smart car coming in the opposite direction. Or at least I thought it was a Smart car. If you've seen them on the road, they are unique looking and, for me, definitely a head-turner. As the vehicle passed by, I noticed it had a prominent Mercedes badge on the front. I thought to myself: Since when did Mercedes come out with one of these little cars? Three minutes later along comes another Smart car with another Mercedes badge! I thought that was really strange.

I did not realize that Smart is an automotive brand of Diamler AG (formerly DiamlerChrysler). Daimler produces cars and trucks under the brands of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Smart and others.

So how did the Mercedes badge get on the Smart car? From various forums it appears that some owners of Smart cars re-badge the vehicle by taking off the Smart logos and putting on the Mercedes logos. I've heard of taking badges off cars to remove the brand image from it entirely. I've even done that in the past. But I've never heard of re-badging a car with another company's logo. And why would you want a pretentious Mercedes badge of all things on a cool little car like that? Perhaps some Mercedes owners are re-badging their vehicles with Smart logos. But I doubt it.