I'm no uber diesel nerd but I think the type of Smart car buyers that the author thinks is buying the car: i.e. gadget freaks looking for status symbol transportation tool, would absolutely prefer the diesel Smart car with manual transmission. It gets about 30% better MPG than the gasoline version we get in the US.

BTW, unlike previous Gearbox reviews, this one actually does not totally suck and devoid of actual automotive knowledge. Still doesn't quite make up for that atrocious Lexus GS 450h review from a few weeks ago though...