Smart turns up summer heat in Chengdu

The second leg of smart times 2014 was held in Chengdu - the innovative two-seaters were ready to turn up the summer heat.

For some, summer is best spent finding ways to cool off.

For smart, however, summer means one thing - turning up the heat.

Under Mercedes-Benz the iconic brand celebrates its fifth anniversary in China this year and has wasted no time making this July one of the hottest in memory.  

"Chengdu is known for its unique lifestyle and high quality of life, so smart, as a pioneer in urban mobility, was 'born for the city'. With great ideas and infinite imagination, smart offers a modern approach to urban life that is absolutely perfect for Chengdu," said Annette Winkler, global head of smart, Daimler AG.

As the world's largest annual gathering of smart owners and fans, smart times celebrates the passion and innovation upon which smart has built its brand.

In China, the automaker promised to make smart times 2014 particularly interesting, thanks to its over-arching "amusement park" theme and unique "seasons" in each city.

Known as an inspirational location for filmmakers and directors, Chengdu fittingly played host to the "season of film". Featuring twelve interactive games including"smart inception", "smart e-ball", "smart dream works", the specially themed activity zones brought fans into a world of cinema and shone the spotlight on the smart brand's unique characteristics.

Chengdu also hosted "smart Oscar" and "classic footage" activities, which gave movie fans a chance to act out some of their favorite scenes.

"Drawing on our fans' passion and enthusiasm, smart is the lead actor in the film we call urban life," explained Winkler.

"Just like their very own red carpet, our smart times amusement park allows smart owners to unleash their imagination and take the stage with their outstanding smart cars."

On an evening full of silver screen glamour, it was another star that took the spotlight - the smart citybeam edition, which made its debut.

Only 518 units of the new special edition model are available. The car was based on the passion model line and comes in both coupe and cabrio variants.

It boasts body panels in light-blue metallic paint and reflective, silver tridion safety cells. The sporty 15-inch three-double-spoke alloy wheels, titanium-colored headlamps and LED daytime driving lights make it stand out from the crowd.