Aston Martin To Make Cygnet Super City Car

It looks like Aston Martin, a company long known for making top of the line British sportscars driven by the likes of James Bond, will actually be bringing its Cygnet compact to market for a not so compact price of around $32,000. This is, after all, an Aston, so you'd figure they wouldn't sell it cheap, no matter what kind of car it is. The interesting thing is that Aston would even consider making a car like this in the first place.

The Cygnet is the result of a joint venture between Aston Martin and Toyota, and will essentially be an upscale version Toyota's economical i.Q. Aston wants the upcoming Cygnet to be seen as a fashionable compact city car for the packed narrow streets of densely populated European urban environments.

In that way, the Cygnet makes sense: It will be Euro only, aimed at filling a specific niche and won't sully the brand's name in markets that might not understand a move like this (i.e. America).

The Cygnet/i.Q. enterprise also bares a certain resemblance, at least in its marketing slant, to the collaboration between Mini and Rolls Royce, when Mini commissioned the Rolls design team to produce a series of very elaborate small cars.

Although the Cygnet will start out its life being built in Toyota’s factory in Japan, it will be shipped to the Aston Martin factory in Gaydon to undergo its transformation into something more luxurious. Aston will hand build the restyled Toyota’s interior bringing it up to the standards Aston Martin buyers will expect.

The exterior will also be reworked. It will incorporate current Aston design cues, such as twin vented hood, flared fenders and a slathering of winged emblems. Got to love the hood vents though. From what I gathered, AM first incorporated those as a way to help out with the thermal loading of a new model. Something tells me that the plant under the hood of the Cygnet won't be that potent.

Aston-izing a Toyota though, no matter how well they bring it off, should not undercut the gamble that Aston is taking with the Cygnet. The car will be smaller than a Smart and Aston will be asking over $30,000 for it. If Aston Martin can position it as the urban ride for the hip and the fashionable and the rich, they might be able to pull this off.

Source: Top Speed