2016 smart fortwo vs. Its Competition

John Voelcker

The 2016 Smart ForTwo is the shortest car sold in the U.S.

Even the Mitsubishi Mirage and Chevrolet Spark minicars offer four seats and five doors, as does the tiny electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV.

But with the departure of the little Scion iQ, its closest competitor, Smart has the two-seat city car market pretty much to itself now.

The new Spark is a far better car than the underpowered Mirage, though the latter wins out on purchase price, and its 40-mpg combined fuel-economy rating will keep it inexpensive to run.

You have to be willing to live with an electric car rated at only 62 miles of range to consider the i-MiEV, and few buyers have.

Then, moving up a size, the Hyundai Accent and Honda Fit represent the inexpensive and the clever and flexible ends of the subcompact segment, respectively.

We like the Honda Fit, which was brand-new last year, a lot--and its base model may come in no more expensive than a mid-level Smart.

But if ease of parking is your main criterion for purchase, no other vehicle comes close to the new Smart.