Aston Martin's Cygnet: Reinventing Toyota's iQ as an ugly duckling?

As the world wakes up to news that Aston Martin next year plans to offer its existing customers an Aston-ised, tricked-out Toyota iQ to complement their purchase of that Vantage/DB9/DBS, you'll doubtless be able to read truck-loads of alternately fawning and cynical views from the automotive blogosphere over the course of the next few days.

I'm wussing out, and won't proffer too much opinion on the car's design here - you can make your own mind up on whether grafting an Aston face onto a city car works, and whether it is a vehicle that has appeal. But it's worth delving just a little deeper into the idea here.

Aston realise that lots of its customers own a small city car - such as the Smart or iQ, alongside their DB9, Vantage, etc. That's what designer Marek Reichman told me a few years back, and it's a market that Dr. Ulrich Bez - CEO of Aston Martin - has seen fit to exploit here.

From a size and environmental perspective, the Cygnet serves as an interesing counter-weight to the badly-received Lagonda SUV concept from Geneva. Yet in terms of the thinking behind it, it feels no less cynical.

On first impressions, Aston are not being unreasonable by believing that its customers could easily spend an extra £10k or so over the regular price of that second-car Smart/iQ they put in their garage. What's more, for something that has a bespoke feel and will be rare, they believe they'll jump at the chance.

Such thinking stacks up on paper, but being that it's only planning to sell these to existing customers, my initial take would be that Aston may be mis-judging the market and its brand. That's because the customer who keeps both a Vantage and a Smart in the garage tends to be fairly sophisticated, intelligent and not overly-flashy. The reason they have a Smart isn't just for its city-friendly proportions, but for those moments when one needs to keep quiet about the size of one's back account, fly beneath the radar or blend into the crowd to appear classless and ordinary. Nothing says classless more than a Smart car. And in my book, nothing will say clueless, and "I have more money than sense, look at me" more than turning up in a Aston-detailed £20k Japanese city car.

Clearly, Aston believe I'm wrong. The non-auto nerd won't notice, they'd argue - seeing it as just another iQ at a glance, thus leaving driver and the automotive congniscenti to revel in its specialness - which is surely half the point of the Aston Martin brand. Yet I can't help feeling that this vehicle, while an interesting project for the Gaydon team to be working on right now, says much about the deeply cynical thinking of the people running Aston Martin today, which makes the whole affair seem rather ugly.

Images: iQ/Cygnet - Toyota GB PR, Lagonda Concept - Drew Smith

Posted by Joseph Simpson on 29th June 2009

Comments

[Robin Brown]

Even if this does amount to a crass and rather cynical-looking move, does Aston really have a choice? Event though the small manufacturers have got longer to reduce emissions, they still need to reduce their average CO2 radically by 2015.

I can't believe sticking some hybrid kit in a V12 Vantage will make a lot of difference, and I notice the same micro powertrains are being touted for the Cygnet.

Sell a few thousand of them a year against a few hundred supercars in the EU and you could solve the emissions problems. The brand may suffer, but set against millions of Euros of fines it may look cheap.

[Ed Stubbs]

I agree with some of the points you make here, but there are a couple of additional reasons why it might work, and why Aston needs this car;
The trend towards exclusivity and customisation is accelerating in smaller vehicles - Citroen's DS3 is a prime example, while the MINI prides itself in offering 1000's of option combinations that a-supposedly differentiate your car from others, and b-push a fully-loaded clubman over £25K. Fiat encourages personalisation with their 500, but it's no bland budget runabout.
So as downsizing becomes more acceptable and indeed fashionable, new opportunities arise to sell small urban-friendly vehicles that don't need to adhere to the cheap 'n' cheerful mantra.
I think this car will appeal to those who value refinement, quality materials, and who want to stand out from the crowd - but who appreciate the mechanical sophistication and reliability of Toyota's iQ. The execution might be debatable but the principle is ground-breaking.
Ed