The Cygnet- AM's view. Interesting.
Discussion
I saw a Cygnet in the flesh the other day being parked outside Hackett on Slone Square, it was being parked by a lad from AM so I went to have a chat with his and it wad very interesting. I, like most other PHers thought it was a pointless car but having spoken to him I have kind of changed my mind.
What he said can be summarised as follows-
- Current AM fleet has a very niche market appeal
- Next to no women buy AMs
- Cygnet designed to be a small city car for the likes of zone one London
- People who buy this type of car want it to be small for parking, believe it or not this is apparently their no one priority.
- There are no luxury tiny cars on the market or any with a prestige brand.
- They apparently don't need to sell many to see profit.
- They are relaxed about petrolheads not liking it as they are not the target market.
- They don't think it will dilute the brand.
I kind of agreed with him on most of it apart from the last but thinking about it, would the cygnet's existence stop me buying a DB9 if I could afford it- no.
I sat in it and I have to say if I wanted a car like that (which I don't) and had pots of cash (which I don't) then I'd go for it- so much nicer than a Smart/Merc A/other city crapbox.
In summary it seems that AM have seen a gap in the market and nailed it- fair play to them!
What he said can be summarised as follows-
- Current AM fleet has a very niche market appeal
- Next to no women buy AMs
- Cygnet designed to be a small city car for the likes of zone one London
- People who buy this type of car want it to be small for parking, believe it or not this is apparently their no one priority.
- There are no luxury tiny cars on the market or any with a prestige brand.
- They apparently don't need to sell many to see profit.
- They are relaxed about petrolheads not liking it as they are not the target market.
- They don't think it will dilute the brand.
I kind of agreed with him on most of it apart from the last but thinking about it, would the cygnet's existence stop me buying a DB9 if I could afford it- no.
I sat in it and I have to say if I wanted a car like that (which I don't) and had pots of cash (which I don't) then I'd go for it- so much nicer than a Smart/Merc A/other city crapbox.
In summary it seems that AM have seen a gap in the market and nailed it- fair play to them!
hunt_the_fox said:
I saw a Cygnet in the flesh the other day being parked outside Hackett on Slone Square, it was being parked by a lad from AM so I went to have a chat with his and it wad very interesting. I, like most other PHers thought it was a pointless car but having spoken to him I have kind of changed my mind.
What he said can be summarised as follows-
- Current AM fleet has a very niche market appeal
- Next to no women buy AMs
- Cygnet designed to be a small city car for the likes of zone one London
- People who buy this type of car want it to be small for parking, believe it or not this is apparently their no one priority.
- There are no luxury tiny cars on the market or any with a prestige brand.
- They apparently don't need to sell many to see profit.
- They are relaxed about petrolheads not liking it as they are not the target market.
- They don't think it will dilute the brand.
I kind of agreed with him on most of it apart from the last but thinking about it, would the cygnet's existence stop me buying a DB9 if I could afford it- no.
I sat in it and I have to say if I wanted a car like that (which I don't) and had pots of cash (which I don't) then I'd go for it- so much nicer than a Smart/Merc A/other city crapbox.
In summary it seems that AM have seen a gap in the market and nailed it- fair play to them!
yep What he said can be summarised as follows-
- Current AM fleet has a very niche market appeal
- Next to no women buy AMs
- Cygnet designed to be a small city car for the likes of zone one London
- People who buy this type of car want it to be small for parking, believe it or not this is apparently their no one priority.
- There are no luxury tiny cars on the market or any with a prestige brand.
- They apparently don't need to sell many to see profit.
- They are relaxed about petrolheads not liking it as they are not the target market.
- They don't think it will dilute the brand.
I kind of agreed with him on most of it apart from the last but thinking about it, would the cygnet's existence stop me buying a DB9 if I could afford it- no.
I sat in it and I have to say if I wanted a car like that (which I don't) and had pots of cash (which I don't) then I'd go for it- so much nicer than a Smart/Merc A/other city crapbox.
In summary it seems that AM have seen a gap in the market and nailed it- fair play to them!
the one at sunday service the other month drew a bigger crowd than the chap revving the tits off his Lamborghini ...oh how we laughed
Garlick said:
Those directives aren't new though, they have said this since day one and still the backlash was strong. I believe we (and other mags/ websites) have published these thoughts before, yet at the time nobody listened.
Interesting to see a change of heart coming through.
PistonHeads.com...la la la were not listeningInteresting to see a change of heart coming through.
I don't hate it, but I wonder why anyone would buy one when they could have a Toyota IQ for half the money. The IQ is a perfectly good car that would suit anyone with the exact same set of requirements as a Cygnet customer.
...unless they are massive badge snobs that wouldn't be seen dead in a Toyota... in which case they are clearly cretinous.
...unless they are massive badge snobs that wouldn't be seen dead in a Toyota... in which case they are clearly cretinous.
Mr Gear said:
I don't hate it, but I wonder why anyone would buy one when they could have a Toyota IQ for half the money. The IQ is a perfectly good car that would suit anyone with the exact same set of requirements as a Cygnet customer.
...unless they are massive badge snobs that wouldn't be seen dead in a Toyota... in which case they are clearly cretinous.
What if you already own an Aston Martin and want it to match? I know if I got one, it would be in the same colour, and same coloured interior....unless they are massive badge snobs that wouldn't be seen dead in a Toyota... in which case they are clearly cretinous.
George H said:
What if you already own an Aston Martin and want it to match? I know if I got one, it would be in the same colour, and same coloured interior.
I could think of nothing sadder to be honest. A person I know who works for AM thinks it is a terrible idea and reflects badly on the company. If AM need to produce vehicles with improved economy and lower emissions then they should look at making an electric sports car rather than blinging up an iQ.greygoose said:
I could think of nothing sadder to be honest. A person I know who works for AM thinks it is a terrible idea and reflects badly on the company. If AM need to produce vehicles with improved economy and lower emissions then they should look at making an electric sports car rather than blinging up an iQ.
And where do they get the funding for that R&D? A key feature of the Cygnet is that it is a cheap and easy way to produce a car with better mpg and lower emissions.greygoose said:
I could think of nothing sadder to be honest. A person I know who works for AM thinks it is a terrible idea and reflects badly on the company. If AM need to produce vehicles with improved economy and lower emissions then they should look at making an electric sports car rather than blinging up an iQ.
Disagree entirely. Existing Aston owners aren't going to flock to order an electric one, yet they might order a city car and keep their sports one for weekends.If Aston brought out an electric sports car, I would be leaving the brand very quickly.
greygoose said:
George H said:
What if you already own an Aston Martin and want it to match? I know if I got one, it would be in the same colour, and same coloured interior.
I could think of nothing sadder to be honest. A person I know who works for AM thinks it is a terrible idea and reflects badly on the company. If AM need to produce vehicles with improved economy and lower emissions then they should look at making an electric sports car rather than blinging up an iQ.Mr Gear said:
George H said:
What if you already own an Aston Martin and want it to match? I know if I got one, it would be in the same colour, and same coloured interior.
Only the mentally-ill feel they need matching cars.If they had built the Cygnet from the ground up, perhaps I'd respect their view point a bit more. Fact is, it's an IQ with a tarted up interior.
Call it 'IQ by Aston' or reinstate some of the old names but don't put an AM badge on the front.
The AM badge on the front of a car is supposed to represent many things, certain core brand values. TheCygnet IQ has none of these.
Iirc, one of the AM directors (?) discussing it stated that it is "the only car of this class with a metal grill". Epic selling point.
I prefer the Rollys Royce Edition MINI. Yes it has RR tarty up bits, but above all, it's a MINI and it says so on the badge and the V5.
Call it 'IQ by Aston' or reinstate some of the old names but don't put an AM badge on the front.
The AM badge on the front of a car is supposed to represent many things, certain core brand values. The
Iirc, one of the AM directors (?) discussing it stated that it is "the only car of this class with a metal grill". Epic selling point.
I prefer the Rollys Royce Edition MINI. Yes it has RR tarty up bits, but above all, it's a MINI and it says so on the badge and the V5.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff