New Smart #6 electric hatchback could replace the Mercedes A-Class

• New family hatchback from Smart
• Fully-electric only
• Expected to go on sale in 2026

Smart is working on a new model to join its lineup, and it’s likely to be an electric hatchback. Confirmed to be called the #6, the new model is expected to be revealed next year before reaching showrooms in 2026.

The Smart #6 will mark a change of direction for the German-Chinese car maker, which has focused entirely on SUVs since its relaunch as an electric-only brand in 2019. It already sells the #1 small SUV and the #3 coupe-SUV, while the Smart #5 will hit the mid-size SUV market next year.

While the new #6 is expected to be a hatchback, it won’t be a direct replacement for the tiny Smart ForTwo or ForFour models from the previous decade – Smart has reserved the #2 and #4 badges for these replacements. Instead, the #6 will be a larger model, similar in size to family hatchbacks like the Volkswagen Golf and ID.3.

So far, Smart hasn’t given away many clues about the new model, aside from a few comments from European CEO Dirk Adelmann. He explained: “We now have three SUVs in the line-up, with #3 being a SUV/Coupé crossover. There is a market besides that bodystyle, and we definitely want to address that – with a hatchback or another body type.”

What could the Smart #6 look like?

No specific information about the design of the #6 has been revealed yet, other than a cryptic suggestion that it would be “surprising and exciting from a design and technology point of view”.

With that in mind, our exclusive images suggest how the new Smart #6 could look. We expect it to draw on the design language used by the Smart #1 and #3 SUVs, with a smooth, curvaceous body. A similar headlight design with a connecting light bar is likely to appear, along with the same front grille.

Of course, the #6 should sit lower than both the #1 and #3, given its hatchback proportions. With Mercedes expected to end production of the A-Class hatchback within the next two years, it would make sense for the new #6 to fill this void as a similarly-sized model – Mercedes is a co-owner of Smart, along with Chinese car marker Geely.

Do we know anything else about the Smart #6?

Under the skin, the Smart #6 will probably use the same electric platform shared with the #1 and #3. Called the Geely Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), it could allow for both single motor and dual motor versions, and battery sizes of 47kWh and 62kWh. High performance Brabus versions of other Smart models deliver 422bhp, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the #6 gets the same treatment.

As Mercedes prepares to wind down production of the A-Class and transition out of the hatchback market, Smart is set to fill the void left behind. Adelmann explained, “When they [Mercedes] are thinning out their portfolio in the C-segment, Smart is the natural bridge for those customers who will not get a Mercedes in that segment anymore. So they are happy to have us in the showrooms, and we are happy to be the bridge for those customers stepping up from another brand to Smart, then maybe from Smart to Mercedes in the future.”

What about a replacement for the Smart ForTwo?

The tiny city car that launched Smart to international fame, the Smart ForTwo, could potentially see a replacement in the near future. However, it’s a question of making the numbers add up for Adelmann.

“We are working on it, we are looking, obviously as a brand, at a two-seat option, but we’ve been doing that for a long, long time,” he explained. “There is a reason why it’s very difficult for any OEM to be successful in the A-segment, because the technology is more or less the same [as bigger cars], the GSR (General Safety Regulation) 2.0 requirements on assistance systems are exactly the same, Euro NCAP is exactly the same. You simply cannot price for it, and that is still an industry-wide dilemma.”

Smart’s current product strategy will see it release one new car per year. With the #5 SUV coming in 2025, and the #6 hatchback expected to arrive in 2026, we could be waiting until 2027 at the earliest for a ForTwo replacement to appear.

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