Aston Cygnet officially revealed!

PLUSH

It might be a rebadge and the idea might be as daft as chilli and jam sandwiches but hats off to AM for the interior. Considering the stupid amounts of money petrol heads invest in pimpin' their Ford Cosworths (Still). I think the extra 10K is worth the money, should you want an iQ with the best seats money can buy.

By W00DZ on 16 December, 2009, 11:22am

Insane

They won't be selling much of these then,,

By hugo_b on 16 December, 2009, 11:48am

I'm In!

They don't have to sell many of them, but they will sell more than they think they will. I could *easily* see myself caught in nasty, damp traffic in this thing. Comfy, coddled and low-impact...in my Aston!

By jwojewidka on 17 December, 2009, 7:24am

Erm...

I saw this and went, "What the ... are Aston Martin doing?!" and I show my wife and she's "Oh my god. How cute. It's so cool. I love it!"...

By ifudge on 17 December, 2009, 9:10am

GROOVY!

How cool is this car - ideal with the ipod dock on the dash and all the quality looks great!

I bet this car will fly off the shelves - rival to the Mini maybe? Defintley aimed at a younger generation - I really want one!

By Vaughn4 on 17 December, 2009, 9:21am

I think this is a smart move from AML to meet co2 range emissions. Despite the Cygnet having all the Aston detailing its proportions seem to mke it look more pimped out than refined and elegant than any Aston apart from the One-77.

The interior looks like the best bit but the iPod looks like it obscures the screen behind it. I prefer the original IQ but te Cygnet isn't too bad looking and after all might be one of those cars that looks better in the flesh. Its going to be interesting to see who and how well it sells.

By JordanB2710 on 17 December, 2009, 10:43am

Toytotas iQ

It's basically a tarted up Toyota iQ, what's there to get excited about.?

By hugo_b on 17 December, 2009, 11:21am

Think again!!

As has been previously stated in many motoring journals, the cygnet will only be available to existing aston martin owners! Think that rules many of us out!!!

By seamy85 on 17 December, 2009, 12:03pm

Are you made?

If I had an Aston Martin why would I want to drive one of these? Nice idea too small a market, yet another British idea gone completely mad!

By Dickie01210 on 17 December, 2009, 1:19pm

Who's fooled?

It's a flaming Toyota IQ for heaven's sake.....

By JamesRiley on 17 December, 2009, 2:12pm

They don't have to sell any - just make it available

This is merely Aston planning for the future as manufacturers will be penalised if the average fuel economy across their range is above a certain figure. By adding such a low emissions car as the iQ to the Aston line-up, it drastically offsets the CO2 their normal cars produce.
And I wouldn't be interested unless you could get it in British Racing Green. Even with an Aston grille on, the iQ still looks like a kitchen appliance. Oh, and the Cygnet's interior shown above looks more like a tart's boudoir than a gentlemen's club.

By snappyuk on 17 December, 2009, 5:32pm

I LIKE TARTS

Hey what's wrong with a tart's boudoir? However; this is AM we're talking about which means you can order this iQ in any colour you want with any interior combination you want. If you want Tungsten grey with deep chocolate leather subtly spruced with walnut wood trimmings, then that's what you get. Try asking for that from Toyota.... Our survey said..... NO!

By W00DZ on 17 December, 2009, 5:48pm

Pig's Ear

As the saying goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. You spend 20k and all you've really got is a pimped Toyota IQ and not an Aston.
I thought the whole point of buying an Aston/Porsche/Ferrari etc was the heritage behind the car.
Another saying also springs to mind. You can't polish a turd.

By christian_stussi on 18 December, 2009, 10:03am

Like the Radford /Wood & Picket BMC Coopers of the 60s?

In the 1960s bothRadford and Wood & Picket did tremendous similar work producing with Longbridge support very upmarket ADO 15 BMC Mini Coopers with every available luxury and great unique interiors and paintwork!

This marketing worked very well and the cars sold and were seen in the media all over the exclusive venues of Europe drive by all sorts of real celebrities such as Peter Sellers, the Beatles. Lord Snowdon etc etc!

They were a howling success and a great status symbol in Chlelsea and Begravia! And for the runners down of this project - this is actual fact Full Stop!

By vandenplas4litre on 18 December, 2009, 3:47pm

That was then this is now !

If people wanted to get a Toyota they'd get aToyota.

Anyway, why would you care, aren't they only offered to those who own AMs ?

By hugo_b on 21 December, 2009, 3:42pm

Fools Gold

At least it will be the most reliable machine ever to wear the aston badge. All "original" aston's are nothing more than a mismatch of 1/2 century old engines with ford switch gear sold on the premise that even blokes as ugly as CLARKSON can play Bond and pull pretty girls. If you really want to be able to pull girls select your parents and hence your gene pool carefully.

By dhami1 on 22 December, 2009, 10:00am

Closed minds

For those of you who don't 'get it' then you wouldn't consider £20k as loose change, which is exactly the kind of customer that Aston Martin has in mind - they couldn't give a fig what you think of it. Their DBS customers who can afford to spend £175k on a car will not even blink about writing out a cheque for £20k to drive around in something like that in the City if it makes sense for them. You also need to take account of the fact that all manufacturerers are being forced to lower the average CO2's across their ranges so don't be surprised if more luxury manuafcturers do something similar.

So before you start spouting off about silk purses and pigs ears then put your brain into gear and see the reason why it's being done - makes an awful lot more sense than building something from scratch for what will be a limited market place, but a pressing commercial concern for the manufacturers.

Just imagine the cost of AM building one of these from scratch!

By Chizzy57 on 22 December, 2009, 10:07am

Turbocharhed would be cool!!

Aston should stick to the performance heritage and put a turbo on it. It is a great idea but stay with the script Aston!! It will sell no matter what but a great opportunity missed in stamping the name of performance Aston Martin at a price the masses can afford. Aston are special cars so it needs to be more different , not just a makeover. If BMW can supercharge a Mini then Aston Martin with all that wonderful technical expertise should be able to upgrade an iQ!!

By PeterJK on 22 December, 2009, 10:10am

Turbocharhed would be cool!!

Aston should stick to the performance heritage and put a turbo on it. It is a great idea but stay with the script Aston!! It will sell no matter what but a great opportunity missed in stamping the name of performance Aston Martin at a price the masses can afford. Aston are special cars so it needs to be more different , not just a makeover. If BMW can supercharge a Mini then Aston Martin with all that wonderful technical expertise should be able to upgrade an iQ!!

By PeterJK on 22 December, 2009, 10:42am

Plugs a gaping hole in the car market

I have long felt that I can't be alone in wanting a small, economical car of modest performance, but not wanting to sit in some budget, made to a price, plastic pig! Just because I no longer want to go from 0-60 in three and a half seconds, or carry a family of four, plus their accompanying entourage, does not mean that I want to give up my heated leather seats, quality stereo, sat nav, and auto everything. There is no mainstream small car with big car luxury, and I find that bizzar! In these times of everybody wanting to save the planet, I can't think of a better way to get the well healed out of their gas guzzlers than this.

By eholford on 22 December, 2009, 11:32am

Turbo? You really don't get it, do you?

Surely the point of this is that you have your Vanquish for crossing the continent in a nano second, and this for sitting in the traffic jams in town. Performance in a city car is a pointless waste! Putting a turbo on this would make it pointless.

By eholford on 22 December, 2009, 11:37am

The IQ looks nicer exterior wise. Don't get me wrong: I Luuuv AM styling...it just doesn't suit this...Toyota's styling suits this which is why it was styled like an IQ in the first place...um..or something.

By CartoonDriver on 22 December, 2009, 12:02pm

Daft!

Why not buy an Alfa Romeo 8c instead of a DB9 - they already have their shrunken city version - the MiTo

By ukmike2000 on 22 December, 2009, 12:38pm

waste

Toyota has already superior quality in city cars with low emissions. This is just too little to be aston martin for real.

By hubabuba on 22 December, 2009, 12:42pm

CO2 Witch Hunt

It is such a shame that Aston Martin are being driven to this ruse to deal with the CO2 witch hunt. If only the regulators had a more sensible approach and allowed small manufacturers such as Aston Martin an exemption from the rule to have a fleet with a lower average CO2 output. Let's face it, cars produce a minute fraction of overall CO2 - and Aston Martin makes so few cars, their impact is highly likely to be meaningless in the overall scheme of things. So even if CO2 is causing climate change, Aston is not part of the problem. Far from it. Rebranding a Toyota to fit in with the regulators' witch hunt is a clever idea - but could have an unfortunate impact on the Aston Martin brand. In the metal, the Cygnet is an ugly duckling and Aston is running the risk of affecting its premium brand image. It is most unlikely that the regulators will see sense -- they never do. Perhaps Aston Martin could see sense and create a new brand for this clever repackaged motor -- or at least spend a little more and get it looking a little more like the almost dynamic looking concept drawings - at least the drawings attempted to reflect the overall Aston aesthetic (just compare the difference of the drawings to the real thing). In the metal it looks like Aston has not been able to disguise the iQ's stubby box appearance. Go on Aston -- you can do it -- it might add to the price, but Aston buyers can afford it (well, some of them I can). And given the real motivation behind this car, adding a few grand to the price to fund improvements to its appearance, and reduce the risk of harming the Aston brand would be a few grand well spent, I am sure any Aston owner would agree. The ironic thing is that whilst Aston are repackaging this car to have a fleet with a lower average CO2 output, it actually results in more cars on the road. ...if only the regulators could see sense and give Aston a break.

By jrunnicles on 22 December, 2009, 1:51pm

Eh? Are You Sure!!!

Before I read the article, and just a brief glimpse of the main photo I thought "Toyota IQ". There's absolutely nothing wrong with the IQ because Toyota designed it to be what it is, a compact, economical car for town use, but I'm sorry, this just doesn't work. I'm not going to get into the CO2 argument and Aston's remit, but just redesigning the rear light cluster and slapping an AM grill on its nose, bunging in some leather and redesigning the fascia, (ok, in these pictures that is the best looking part), doesn't make it an Aston, it's a rebadged, rehashed Toyota IQ, and it will always be that. It cannot be anything else. So what, it's being made available only to current AM owners, what the hell does that prove, except perhaps as someone else has said to damage AM's reputation for building quality, albeit specialised and exclusive cars. In fact, as I understand it, the running gear is going to be Toyota anyway, with the 99 bhp 1.3 litre engine, so this makes it even more pointless. They might as well have taken something like a Suzuki Splash and stuck an AM grill on that, it would be no different.

I really think Aston have done themselves some potential real damage and I can't believe I'm going to see many of these things buzzing around.

One more thing, someone mentioned that 20k for one of these is small beans for someone who is already an AM owner, that's as maybe and to an extent you may be right, but can you honestly imagine a true bred Aston owner buying one of these for his daughter or son to drive around in? He'll buy the real thing that was designed and built by Toyota.

By nick7 on 22 December, 2009, 4:39pm

Bad move

This car will, without a doubt, cheapen the AM brand and will be VERY damaging to the company. Remember the Alfa Romeo ARNA? (Nissan/Alfa collaboration) It took Alfa years to recover from that dreadful mistake. Remember the Indian CITY-ROVER. A crazy move that was the death of Rover.

By wills102 on 22 December, 2009, 5:53pm

I've tried IQ ...

I’ve driven Toyota IQ on several occasions and I love it. It handles like sedan and gives you that “large car” feeling … until you try to park the thing. Will put smile on your face :) It also has very cool steering wheel (original model).

I think the whole deal with Aston Martin is a great compliment for Toyota.

Greetings from Macedonia
Robin

By robinmat1 on 22 December, 2009, 5:58pm

Brand Damage

How to devalue a brand in one fail swoop. I somehow don't think we'll see Ferrari re-badging a Mazda. I would feel a right p***k in one! What a shame.

By thorntonjames on 22 December, 2009, 6:12pm

What next ???

What next ?
A Rolls-Royce delivery truck ???
Please Aston-Martin , you NOT known for these types of cars...

By hjbpbusy on 23 December, 2009, 4:37am

Aston Martin ....The End

This marks the end of yet another great manufacturing company in Great Britain

By deprince10 on 23 December, 2009, 9:01am

fools gold

Heritage etc does not make a great car , dynamically aston if your going to be trueful have been superseded by toyota, nissan and mitisubishi years ago. Mitisubishi were selling cars with 4 wheel steering, direct fuel engines etc to the masses over 20 years ago. The current nissan gtr is by far a better point a to b car than the aston's ever will be. If you really want a fast car at a price for the masses buy a Subuaru or a Golf GTi. Both are very good. Where Aston has the edge is their cars are pretty. Again however if we are going to be honest, anyone can make a fast car all you need is a V8, take one from the corvette or better still from BMW bolt on a turbo charger, or supercharger or both, stick on some ultra wide low profile tyres and depending on price stick on a plastic, fibre glass or carbon fibre body to keep it light and fast. Hence we have a TVR or all the other small volume producers out there. The only thing missing is the percieved image as mentioned before which as gives someone as ugly as clarkson the sense he can pull a girl like Cameron Diaz. The same "image" is sold to women with perfumes that cost pennies to make and are sold for £70+ . Whereas it takes true engineering prowess to devlop a car which exceeds all current emissions and safety regulations, sips fuel and will not break down, here we have the IQ. And no I do not work for toyota, it's just as it is. Oil is runnning out and fast fossil fueled cars have had thier day.

By dhami1 on 23 December, 2009, 10:16am

WAIT!!!

Wait, you're all wrong. This car has been designed and made specifically for me. I have a small space left at the far end of my garage full of Astons - I've been an avid collector for a while now - just big enough for the new addition to the fleet. I asked Aston Martin to make me a small, very reliable, fuel efficient runabout that no-one else had. They came up with this idea and asked me if it suited my purpose. I said yes and they then asked me if they could produce a few more for particularly select clients - existing Aston owners - which would make it a little more economic for them and ultimately for me. I reluctantly agreed on the basis that mere peasants were not to be included. Therefore you lot can all keep on talking about what ever you like COS YOU AIN'T GONNA GET ONE!

By hsbcgeoff on 24 December, 2009, 9:55am

a toyota aston for the masses

Well, let's face it ,not everyone can afford a DB9 .this might even be a little crazy but the interior is quality that you expect from aston martin. try getting that quality in a toyota. i think it's insanely different and should be given a chance.one thing though £20.000 is a lot of dosh for small car.

By alkers500 on 24 December, 2009, 10:54am

WAIT!!!

Wait, you're all wrong. This car has been designed and made specifically for me. I have a small space left at the far end of my garage full of Astons - I've been an avid collector for a while now - just big enough for the new addition to the fleet. I asked Aston Martin to make me a small, very reliable, fuel efficient runabout that no-one else had. They came up with this idea and asked me if it suited my purpose. I said yes and they then asked me if they could produce a few more for particularly select clients - existing Aston owners - which would make it a little more economic for them and ultimately for me. I reluctantly agreed on the basis that mere peasants were not to be included. Therefore you lot can all keep on talking about what ever you like COS YOU AIN'T GONNA GET ONE!

By hsbcgeoff on 24 December, 2009, 11:07am

Schmooie

This Cygnet is totally daft. Reducing the average C02 output accross the AV range is a blatantly obvious ploy - but the idiots in charge of our so-called "green" motoring future will not take the bait and relent their policy of over-taxing high output cars - because this government wants the m-o-n-e-y to waste. Overall C02 could easily be reduced by simply spending motorists' taxes on improving junctions, building tunnels, ending bottlenecks, etc - but the brief to the Highways Agency clearly is to discourage all drivers, get the cars off the roads and put travellers in the hands of the transport unions.

By S1GML on 25 December, 2009, 9:38am

Gripper

Chizzy57 is on the button, but how else do you say to the filthy masses 'I've got loads of wonga, but I choose to be green today.' If everyone could buy one, what would be the point? This will probably be the highest profile accessory/status symbol that city oiks will love - and basing it on a car you don't have to design and build is a stroke of genius - particularly since AM have always had their own bespoke upholstery department. I don't suppose AM care whether they sell 20 or 20,000 - lots is good, but this demonstrates perfectly that AM know their what their customers want. A clever little ploy that might just make them a bob or two AND introduce them into this green market that no car manufacturer can afford to stay out of. Merc and Audi did this years ago in their way, and AM have found a way that they can do it too!

By iamsuperman69 on 26 December, 2009, 3:07pm

Good Idea.

It's not only to do with average CO2 output, it's to do with the fact that most AM customers have a second car to drive round, hence why it's only available to AM customers. They are filling a gap, instead of their customers buying a Toyota IQ as a run about they can have another AM to do the job.

By _v_andy_v_ on 20 May, 2010, 2:31pm

BD9 Driver

The premise that every AM owner is flash, needs a car to pull ladies, or is loaded is very far from the mark. The reality is a lot of AM drivers just like AM's.

It is a natural progression from the TVR era with most having tried 911's along the way.

I would like one of these. Ideal for popping to the shops and short journeys as the DB9 is quite a large car and you dont always feel comfortable leaving it in public car parks. A little run around would be ideal.

However, at £20k it is too much for me. I'd rather AM owners were givena concession to buy one, or leased one whilst they own the proper AM.

By simond002 on 28 September, 2010, 10:38am

You don't say!

"Sincere" thanks to the contributors who have pointed out that the AM Cygnet is just an upgraded Toyota IQ. They could have also helped me out on another particularly anguishing question: "Does it really have wheels?"

These threads need a quality teaser or two, so equally "sincere" thanks to the false AM owner, bragging about a garage so full of AMs the Cygnet is the only one that will fit. Anyone forking out enough to buy an AM will view the £10,000 to build more garage space as a minor expenditure...

I just wished they had reduced the ride height and the height of the body shell. Like that we would have seen AMs being proudly driven by people with low IQs.

Te-deurrrmmm!!!

By ThatOne on 21 October, 2010, 10:30am

after seeing this monsterosity I am ashamed to call my aston an aston.what a shame to cheapen a badge so special

By lallusahab on 8 November, 2010, 7:41pm