Smart Roadster, Coupe to return to production next year

Production of the Smart Roadster and Coupe will resume 12 months from now, Project Kimber announced today. The British consortium acquired the rights to the two ultra-compact cars from DaimlerChrysler in February. Chrysler decided to sell the rights to the cars after it discontinued them last year. The new cars will be slightly reworked versions of the original models. Production will likely take place in South Wales, the company said. Project Kimber hopes to build about 8,000 cars per year. So far, there has been no word of U.S. availability. Project Kimber was founded by businessman David James. It attempted to acquire the rights to MG last year, but eventually lost out to the Nanjing Automobile Company.