The James Bond automaker, Aston Martin, has announced it will be making a car especially designed for city driving. The idea is to make a sub-compact luxury car that addresses the hassles of driving in congested cities like London, England. Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, has announced that its 2009 concept car will be on the market by late spring, 2011. The sub-compact car will be Aston Martin’s smallest and slowest vehicle to date.
Will Cygnet be worth the price?
Many people are wondering if the British luxury car manufacturer will be able to convince consumers Cygnets are worth a high end luxury car price. The 2011 Cygnet will be based on imported, factory-ready Toyota iQs from Japan. The Scion iQ is one of Toyota’s low end models, which sells for about a third of the projected Cygnet base price.
Aston Martin will leave the iQ engineering alone. Basically the only difference between Toyota’s Scion iQ and the Aston Martin Cygnet will be the cosmetic features. People are wondering just how much cosmetic luxury Aston Martin plans to pack into the supermini vehicle to bring it from being a low end to high end model.
2011 Cygnet’s primary features
Aston Martin has emphasized that the Cygnet will still be retaining all the high quality standards of the company’s other luxury models. According to Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, and Design Director, Marek Reichman, this retention also includes the brand’s associated scents. According to these two gentlemen, each Cygnet will be a unique vehicle, with no two being identical.
The uniqueness will be due to each customer getting to customize their vehicles to suit their own personal taste. Each Cygnet will be hand-built in the Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, England. The customer will have a wide selection of interior layouts, such as metal trim, high quality leathers, and wood fascias. Consumers will also get to choose from a wide spectrum of exterior paint colors. The Cygnet comes with plush seating for four people.
The 2011 Cygnet will be powered by Toyota’s high efficiency 1.3L gasoline 4-cylinder engine. This means it will have less than 100 horsepower. The 1.3L will provide an average 59mpg, with the ability to reach 106mph flat. It’ll have an 11.8sec in the 0-62mph sprint. Aston Martin is hoping this will help the company to meet the ever-increasing fleet-emissions and fuel-economy standards that are being placed on auto manufacturers worldwide. They’re hoping the smaller car with fewer emissions will counterbalance the higher fleet-emissions and fuel-economy of its luxury V8 and V12 vehicles.
Aston Martin’s marketing strategy
CEO Ulrich Bez stated that it’s time for the company to start thinking differently. He said that “Whatever we do, we do right.” The company realizes that their customers need a small car for urban and city use, but still want the luxury and performance provided by bigger cars. Aston Martin thinks the Cygnet can satisfy the demands of emissions and space, without compromising the luxury and performance. The Cygnet is expected to provide the convenience of a supermini commuter car without compromising the intelligence, artistry, and personality that Aston Martin’s luxury vehicles are well-known for.
The 2011 Cygnet is expected to be offered to existing Aston Martin customers first, with general sales following. The two-seater luxury sub-compact may also eventually be offered in the North American market. However, Americans may have to wait until the proposed 2012 purely electric version hits the global market.
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