Nicole Hergarten had never won a thing in her life - until yesterday. The 36-year-old is the lucky winner of the first of three smart cars being given away by the South China Morning Post. Ms Hergarten, a finance engineering student, was working on a university assignment when she got the call to say that she had won the smart city-coupe pulse, her first new car. 'I really couldn't believe it because I've never won anything in my life,' she said. 'I didn't have high expectations to be honest.' Ms Hergarten, a native of Dusseldorf, Germany, is the first of three winners of our 'read smart win smart' contest. The entry form and the first clue for the second car appear in tomorrow's Post. Ms Hergarten, who is a graduate student at the City University of Hong Kong, has been an avid reader of the Post since she moved here two years ago. Every morning, she reads the paper over breakfast and the contest had become part of her daily routine. 'First I look at the international pages to catch up with what's going on in the world,' she said. 'Then I turn to the business section.' 'I think on the one hand the paper gives very good information about the region. On the other hand you get very good international news. It covers all my interests.' Ms Hergarten, a Mid-Levels resident, had been thinking about buying a car but decided against it because of the cost. She has been relying on public transport and sharing her husband's car to get around town. 'I'm very active and do a lot of things in Hong Kong. This will make life much easier,' she said. 'Once I pick up the car, I think I'll have a nice drive around the island and then head to Shek O and have a nice dinner there with my husband.'
