Aston rolls out two launch models of the new Cygnet urban luxury minicar.
Is it the bargain of the decade – or a complete con? Opinions have been running both ways about the new Aston Martin Cygnet, the maker’s first-ever mini car.
The minicar will carry a price tag of 30,995 British pounds, Aston has announced, or $49,368 at the current exchange rate. That’s barely a fifth the starting price of the maker’s top-line DBS and only a bit more than a third as much as the “base” model in the supercar maker’s line-up, the Aston Martin Vantage.
But will James Bond be caught driving one of the compact urban cruisers? Maybe if he’s looking for a parking space on the crowded streets near MI6 headquarters, in London. With its 99-horsepower, 1.3-liter engine this isn’t exactly the sort of product you expect to see 007 using to get away from the bad guys.
And to some Aston purists, the Cygnet simply doesn’t belong in the line-up. Truth told, it’s a modified version of the tiny Toyota iQ, also sold in Europe – an econobox we’ll also be seeing in the States soon, here with a Scion badge.
You can get an iQ in Britain for as little as $20,000, so what justifies more than doubling the price tag? There’ll be plenty of upgrades, including a high-end infotainment system, a lavishing of leather and wood and, of course, that winged Aston emblem on the hood.
There’ll be two initial launch colors, including Cygnet Launch Edition White, and Launch Edition Black, the mirror twins bathed in Snow White or Magic Black paint.
Aston officials claim they gave the Cygnet project the green light after realizing as many as a third of their European customers also owned minicars, such as Smart or Mini, for driving around town.
However, industry sources insist the move had a more practical side, helping the British marque meet tough new European emissions and fuel economy standards, something that would have been a challenge with its conventional sports car line-up.
Production is expected to total about 2,000 annually, which would make the Cygnet the most popular model in Aston Martin history.