SMART, the innovative city car which has captured the imagination of environmentalists across Europe, may not be put on sale in Britain. The French-built micro-model will be introduced in nine markets in October but a decision has still to be reached on building right- hand-drive examples.

'It all depends on how well the car is received. We have deferred making a decision to concentrate on our present launch programme,' said spokesman Hubert Kogel. More than 200,000 potential buyers have declared an interest in the two-seater car. It was to have gone into the showrooms this month, but the launch was postponed to allow quality problems with some components to be rectified.