Could it be intended to get their fleet average mpg higher? I joked a few months ago that Ferrari someday will gladly sell you that new 8 mpg supercar...if you also buy three of their Ferrari Uno 500's that get 43 mpg and have 80 hp. Just consider the extra $60k as the cost of buying your dream car. What you do with the econoboxes was your choice, but Ferrari's fleet average for all sales is now 35 mpg.
...exactly that - this is a brilliant move by aston martin... ...consider this: how many people keep a trophy car in the garage for special occasions with an expendable, practical, economical second car as a daily driver?..consider this: how quickly-rising is the market niche for highly-efficient, fashionable, and exclusive city cars?..consider this: aston martin is only making the cygnet available to existing aston martin owners... ...i'd take it even one step further - every supercar manufacturer should include an exclusive compact runabout as a standard accessory with each of their flagship performance vehicles...they'd quickly become just as prestigious as the associated model, add negligible cost and substantial utility to the purchase, and do wonders for impeding CAFE standards... ...the cygnet is a stroke of genius...
I doubt it would really count as part of the "fleet" if you only make them available to supercar owners. How about just exempting low-millage, low volume, vehicles from these laws? Or, better yet, how about trying try to comply with the rules?
...fuel economy requirements don't distinguish between daily-commuter SUVs and high-performance garage queens, regardless of the profound difference in actual fuel consumption and emissions generated - i posit that including high-mileage high-efficiency daily drivers within the CAFE calculations is absolutely in the spirit of the rules, as well as their letter...
What car do you drive? An Aston Oh wow, V-8 or V-12? Ermmmmmmmm They did some combined operation in the late 70-ies with Tickford on the basis of the Ford Capri, oh dear that one, and now this. Back to the properly hand-built Aston, but I guess that is wishful thinking.
But since the Cygnet will only be offered to existing Aston owners, there's no need for the "Ermmmmmmmm". The answer becomes - "Well actually, I have two; a Vantage V12 and a Cygnet"
And when these things hit the secondary market (about 10 minutes after leaving the showroom)? This is just like badging the Fiat 500 with the horse.
There still won't be a flood of them, even once they're on the secondary market. There are only so many existing Aston owners and only so many of them will buy a Cygnet, so supply will be very limited.
That might be coming too-->http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/236458/mini_rolls_royce_edition_spied.html At least it won't be badged as a RR.
Very plush for a MINI but hardly up to Goodwood/Crewe standards. Should be several square feet more of inlaid wood on each door, complimented by polished veneer at the door sills, lots more heavy chrome trim on dash, somehow incorporate tray tables for rear passenger and also somehow raise the MINI logo and 3-D it. And just for good measure, give it about another 200 lb/fts of torque.
Is there anyone that thinks a car like this would become the car of choice for the 16-year-old whose AM-owning daddy wants to get them something special but a 1-series BMW or Range Rover is too common and a powerful sportscar is too much for them to handle?
Apparently Aston Martin intends to start selling this thing starting from 2010 at a price around $32K. Aston won't modify the mechanics apparently. They're planning on selling 4000 per year. I was only able to find an Italian article about this (http://www.autoblog.it/post/22560/aston-martin-cygnet-nel-2010-a-circa-32000-dollari) but I'm sure that others in English will soon show up. Very sad.
I'd consider $32K a reasonable price if it had some balls, but it doesn't sound like that's gonna be the case.
I can't wait to see how the English motoring press react to this. They constantly refer to Aston Martin as the "coolest" brand in the world so hopefully this will shut them up once and for all. Despite popular belief, Aston Martins are deeply flawed in terms of mechanics and the performance figures leave a lot to be desired. I can't understand how English journalists think it's appropriate to call the latest DB9/DBS/Vantage a "Ferrari Killer" when the 911 Carrera or SL500 would be a more suitable comparison. I'm sure the biased UK press, who feel Aston Martin can do no wrong, will try to put a good spin on this and announce it as the best in it's class or something. This isn't suicide, but it will undoubtedly cause irreversable damage to the brand. We should consider ourselves lucky that Ferrari gave us the California and not a smart car rip-off.