Smart For-Us melds cute and ute

Outside of Europe's cramped city streets, the Smart ForTwo has been a hard sell. Maybe this open-air ute concept will make a better case for itself.

Micro-car aficionados shouldn't get their hopes up, though, but the styling may serve as a pointer to the next ForTwo.

The rear tailgate slides electronically out and down, so there'll be no American-style tailgate parties with this car.

The cargo bay is 900mm long, allowing it to swallow a few bikes, although their front wheels need to be detached first.

The For-Us has a 55kW/130Nm electric motor powering the rear wheels.

No mention is made of the car's range, but it can reach speeds of up to 120km/h. And all without the regular Smart's awful automated manual gearbox.

The For-Us' interior is stark, but cheerful. We're not sure that the crescent-shaped wheel will be all that much fun to use, though.

Derek Fung travelled to the Detroit Motor Show as a guest of Ford.