How smart is Smart? Plenty smart if you look at the way Smart USA is marketing their munchkin, and the way other auto makers are trying to play catch-up to join in what they see as an up and coming segment.

At nine feet long, the car will be the smallest on the road but is showing big numbers pre introduction. In a unique marketing angle to promote a new car, Smart has taken in over 30,000 Internet reservations for its Smart ForTwo at $99 per reservation this year.

I thought this was a good marketing scheme but must admit I am surprised at the volume. Much more then I had thought when Smart announced the program a few months back.

Daimler, the manufacturer of Smart also announced that they have reconfirmed with over 8,000 of those potential customers, while about 90 percent of those customers turned their initial reservation into firm vehicle orders with just 7 percent asking for refunds. Smart expects to ship its first vehicles to customers that have reserved its two-seat Smart ForTwo model in January. But it could take well into 2008 until it clears a backlog of “reservations” for the vehicle that it has taken in through the Internet.

The Smart is expected to have combined highway and city mileage of 36 miles per gallon based on revised 2008 government standards. A micro-hybrid version would boost fuel efficiency by using battery power when the engine is idling. A hybrid is next on the drawing board.

The base model of the Smart ForTwo will start at $11,590 with a better-equipped “Passion Coupe” priced at $13,590. The convertible “Passion Cabriolet” will cost $16,590.

As mentioned other manufacturers are trying to play catch-up. Nissan has said it is considering a vehicle for the U.S. market that would be slot in below its Versa, currently the smallest vehicle in its line-up. Other automakers, including Ford and General Motors also are readying new compact models to take advantage of an expected shift to smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles by U.S. consumers.