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

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