Car Throttle

Auto manufacturers are increasingly entering smaller and smaller segments as governmental regulations demand an increase in fuel efficiency and reductions in emissions. For luxury performance and exotic manufacturers under a large corporate umbrella, other brands in the portfolio are able to produce smaller models. Aston Martin is a standalone brand owned by a joint venture company headed by David Richards and co-owned by by equity companies, Investment Dar, Adeem Investment and English businessman John Sinders. As such, it doesn't have the ability to do that - for now it has to be introduced under the Aston Martin brand name. The Cygnet is a lightly-modified Toyota iQ with Aston Martin cues. This enabled the car to be introduced cheaply and quickly. Since news of

The latest trend in online automotive advertising is to create "viral" videos, that aren't really viral at all. Still, they make for some entertaining watches sometimes. Aston Martin's newest is for the Cygnet, showing two "free runners" dodging various obstacles to reach a Cygnet. For a few different reasons, we're not sure the point of the video - the Cygnet isn't even going to be available to the public, so what is the point of drumming up interest? This somehow doesn't seem aimed at the traditional Aston Martin audience. Also, if you want to appeal to non-Aston Martin buyers, I think normal Astons will do just fine. It also seems to project the message of running past real Aston Martins to reach a - Cygnet? Hmm, doesn't seem

Earlier this month, Aston Martin released official details on the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet minicar. The car has been met with howls of dissaproval from Aston Martin purists, and has left many scratching their heads. Regardless, Aston Martin is announcing some measures that should quell some of the worries that people had about the car. First of all, there is one very big barrier for entry: you must already be an Aston Martin owner. That means buyers of the Cygnet will be an exclusive club. That is an important thing, being the Cygnet's relatively small $35,000 asking price could ensure that a new vehicle with the Aston Martin name on it isn't far out of reach for quite a few people. Offering the car to just anyone would destroy the

When word of the Aston Martin Cygnet broke last week, not much information was available about the minicar (supermini?). Now, days later there isn't a whole lot more to pore over. One more actual image of the car has came out, and AutoExpress has had some renderings done that give us a better idea of what to expect stylistically. There also have been some comments made by Aston Martin's CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. For one thing, we now know that the car's underlying Toyota mechanicals will not change. 1.0-litre Aston Martin-badged minicar - did you ever think you'd see that day? Here are the comments made by the CEO: “Until now, small cars offered a message that people are buying something cheap,” he said. “The Cygnet will show