Ulrich Bez confirms that the Aston Martin Cygnet WILL be produced....

I hope it's a bad joke...

Here is some info on the car for those that were fortunate enough not hear about it yet--> http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/29/report-aston-martin-cygnet-adds-a-smart-set-of-clothes-to-the-t/
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Sad.

 

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I think when your back is to the wall its harder to keep your cool. If anything says a car company needs money it’s this...

Sad thing is that I can see it selling. For 33k there are a lot of people that would buy it for the badge alone. However, as a car guy- this is a travesty.

 

Yes, it might be a good way to raise $$$...but I find it terribly sad.

 

why not create a different brand all together?

 

It wouldn't sell as much.

 

I think I may have to reconsider the ZR-1 el camino. It is starting to look much better now.

 

Just one more point on Aston Martin's bad week - that new supercar design study on the cover of the latest Road & Track:

Am I the only one who notices that the door trim is pretty badly mismatched with the window trim at the lower rear of both doors?

Small detail yes, but would you take this car to Villa de Este that way and then try to sell it for over $1,200,000 pounds?

 

Agree..

The Austin Munchkin

 

Imagine Bond driving it through Monaco equipped w rocket launchers LOL

 

Brand suicide.

 

Like in most cases, two wonderful things need not be mixed, as each perform best as a standalone.

I beg you to please rethink this move, Dr. Bez.

 

I keep thinking it's april fools day everytime I see that.

 

I take the next James Bond will feature some sort of castration scene?

 

LOL!

 

He will be played by a gay woman with international environmental credentials.

 

but she'll have to be Black or Mexican

 

Utterly crass.

 

back on topic...

I agree this is brand suicide...

Can anyone argue the opposite ? That this would be good for AM ?

 

let me squeeze into my flame suit first...

but I don't think this is brand suicide, for a number of reasons:
1) How many times have we heard "oh $h!t, this is brand suicide!" before? Cadillac with the Cimmaron. Porsche with every car since the 911. BMW with the 1-series. M-B with the 190/C-class, ML-class, A-class, etc. Bentley with a VW-based "entry" model. etc. etc. the sky isn't falling.

2) This ensures that AM can pass various corporate emissions standards

3) It gives AM a revenue stream not based entirely on high-end ($100k+) luxury cars. Haven't seen numbers but you can assume AM is down at least 30+% this year. An entry level car gives them some diversity in their product mix.

4) I'm going to assume that these things are going to be very profitable on a per-unit basis. I think Cadillac netted over $10k profit on each Escalade (which was a gussied-up Tahoe). Same thing here...and AM needs a profit center that is not totally reliant on super-expensive sports cars.

5) It aligns them (and by extension, Prodrive) with Toyota. Not a bad business/technical partner.

6) They are helping to establish an entirely new niche: high-end city cars. Believe it or not, I think this will be a HUGE market in the next decade. In so doing, they are not entering already clogged market segments (performance sedans, luxury SUV's, etc etc)

Granted, I'm still not convinced this wouldn't work better as a sub-brand (a la Mercedes and Smart or BMW and Mini), but I don't think this is the death of AM.

 

1) Agree. I'm not sure brand suicide exists anymore. This car doesn't make me want a V12 Vantage ANY less. Not one ounce. Am I the only one?

2) I'd rock this lil' bastard in a heartbeat. Assuming it's more than just a "top hat." Maybe a big I4 out of a corolla/camry.

 

Hmmm.

Which would make me more of an outcast at the AMOC? One of these bought on the secondary market, or an early 6-powered BD7 coupe?

 

Aston Smartin

 

That's a very Smart Ast thing to say

 

I would buy one. Only didn't wish it was based on a Toyota. Would rather they have used a Fiat plateform, or Honda, or even Smart. Pretty much anyone other then Toyota whose cars for the most part have driving dynamics of a drunken monkey with hemiballismus.