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Aston Martin has confirmed production of its Toyota-based Cygnet city car from 2011.
The car, first shown as a concept in March 2010, is described as a modern city car based on sound Aston Martin principles but able to exploit tight parking spots, be fuel-frugal and have low exhaust emissions.
For most Aston Martin owners it's been a design directive of pure heresy; an unacceptable affront to everything Aston’s winged badge represents.
Environmental solution
Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez believes there is a market for the car. “Our customers need a small car for urban and city use and they want the right tools for the right job, to downsize creatively without compromising intelligence, artistry and personality.
“The Cygnet is designed to support our sports cars by providing a greater degree of freedom in the urban context; it's a very special car, a premium but compact package with heart, soul and personality.”
Just like any other Aston Martin, the Cygnet comes with an almost limitless palette of materials and colours, and each car will be hand-built at the company’s Gaydon plant in Warwickshire, England.
The Cygnet’s grille is classic Aston Martin, as are those rather pointless bonnet slits and side vents – which remind one distressingly of Aston’s DB9 and Vantage models. Around its rump the Cygnet sports typical crescent-shaped Aston Martin tail lights.
Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s design director, said: "The Cygnet is small but luxurious, an Aston Martin tailored for the city. Luxury is not constrained by scale."
It may be small but expect it to carry the full Aston image pricing values of its larger siblings. The Cygnet will at first be available only to existing Aston owners, and will sell for the equivalent of between R300 000 and R500 000.
Industry pundits wonder how Aston Martin could possibly market the car beyond its existing customer network.
The issue is hardly that the donor vehicle platform, Toyota’s iQ, is in any way a terrible little car. Neatly styled and cleverly engineered, it’s one the best Toyotas in recent memory and an awfully compelling city transport solution. As an Aston Martin, it is terrifically cheap in Cygnet guise. As a Toyota, the asking price is ridiculous.
Slow because it has to be
Although Aston has promised to release further details and specifications only later in 2010, don’t expect a radical departure from the series iQ’s running gear. The iQ has a Toyota 1.3 four-cylinder engine capable of 72kW and 123Nm, VVT-i timing technology (on inlet and exhaust camshafts) and stop/start functionality that ensures environmentally friendly emissions control (only 113g/km of carbon output) which is, as Aston Martin has admitted, the Cygnet’s raison d'être.
The automaker is hoping for sales of around 1500 units when the Cygnet becomes available to existing Aston Martin customers towards the end of 2011year. We expect most owners would expect a Cygnet thrown in for free with their trade-in…
Ultimately, though, as Aston Martin is a stand-alone manufacturer, it needs a low-emissions vehicle to reduce its fleet emissions average in anticipation of ever-tightening EU emissions regulations.
What the Cygnet will do on a fundamental level (besides play havoc with Aston's brand-awareness) is afford the company's engineers a window of opportunity to find replacement drivetrains (a combination of forced induction and hybrid for the larger V8 and V12 Aston Martin products, without sacrificing power.
The car, first shown as a concept in March 2010, is described as a modern city car based on sound Aston Martin principles but able to exploit tight parking spots, be fuel-frugal and have low exhaust emissions.
For most Aston Martin owners it's been a design directive of pure heresy; an unacceptable affront to everything Aston’s winged badge represents.
Environmental solution
Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez believes there is a market for the car. “Our customers need a small car for urban and city use and they want the right tools for the right job, to downsize creatively without compromising intelligence, artistry and personality.
“The Cygnet is designed to support our sports cars by providing a greater degree of freedom in the urban context; it's a very special car, a premium but compact package with heart, soul and personality.”
Just like any other Aston Martin, the Cygnet comes with an almost limitless palette of materials and colours, and each car will be hand-built at the company’s Gaydon plant in Warwickshire, England.
The Cygnet’s grille is classic Aston Martin, as are those rather pointless bonnet slits and side vents – which remind one distressingly of Aston’s DB9 and Vantage models. Around its rump the Cygnet sports typical crescent-shaped Aston Martin tail lights.
Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s design director, said: "The Cygnet is small but luxurious, an Aston Martin tailored for the city. Luxury is not constrained by scale."
It may be small but expect it to carry the full Aston image pricing values of its larger siblings. The Cygnet will at first be available only to existing Aston owners, and will sell for the equivalent of between R300 000 and R500 000.
Industry pundits wonder how Aston Martin could possibly market the car beyond its existing customer network.
The issue is hardly that the donor vehicle platform, Toyota’s iQ, is in any way a terrible little car. Neatly styled and cleverly engineered, it’s one the best Toyotas in recent memory and an awfully compelling city transport solution. As an Aston Martin, it is terrifically cheap in Cygnet guise. As a Toyota, the asking price is ridiculous.
Slow because it has to be
Although Aston has promised to release further details and specifications only later in 2010, don’t expect a radical departure from the series iQ’s running gear. The iQ has a Toyota 1.3 four-cylinder engine capable of 72kW and 123Nm, VVT-i timing technology (on inlet and exhaust camshafts) and stop/start functionality that ensures environmentally friendly emissions control (only 113g/km of carbon output) which is, as Aston Martin has admitted, the Cygnet’s raison d'être.
The automaker is hoping for sales of around 1500 units when the Cygnet becomes available to existing Aston Martin customers towards the end of 2011year. We expect most owners would expect a Cygnet thrown in for free with their trade-in…
Ultimately, though, as Aston Martin is a stand-alone manufacturer, it needs a low-emissions vehicle to reduce its fleet emissions average in anticipation of ever-tightening EU emissions regulations.
What the Cygnet will do on a fundamental level (besides play havoc with Aston's brand-awareness) is afford the company's engineers a window of opportunity to find replacement drivetrains (a combination of forced induction and hybrid for the larger V8 and V12 Aston Martin products, without sacrificing power.
