Aston Martin Cygnet - a flop?
Discussion
Toward the end of last year I posted up this:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Wondering whether anyone had actually seen any on the road as I was curious to know whether Aston had shifted any. A few sightings, not many and no way of knowing whether they were dealer cars.
Well, according to Car Magazine this month it seems that in 2011 Aston sold a whopping 89 into the UK. Or did they? I'm guessing these are registration figures rather than actual sales (it doesn't say where the data came from) so maybe many are "pre reg" cars and dealer demos. Certainly there are plenty for sale at Aston dealers (18 in the Pistonheads Classifieds alone, which is 20% of total sold ever sold into the UK).
Interestingly, many are advertised as "price on application", as though they don't really know what they're worth (I guess if non are selling, how do you judge it)?
A lot of people seemed to think that the wealthy would buy them regardless as "price is not an issue", and that Aston owners would have one as a "city runabout". Indeed if I recall correctly, originally they were only going to be sold to Aston owners. A policy that was very very quickly dropped. Wonder why...
I'd say this confirms that, contrary to popular belief (and wishful thinking) the majority of wealthy people are not stupid, nor do they wish to be taken for fools, and that £31K (sorry, £30,995, well done marketing department, that Tesco style fiver off really helped didn't it) for a tarted up Toyota aint gonna do it for them.
I have to say I'm relieved. It always struck me as a very cynical attempt to cash in on Aston's exclusive "brand DNA" and fantastic image, and it risked ruining that very image in the process. (If it really had been simply about having a low emissions vehicle in the range then they should/would have used the Lagonda or Tickford brand, as they have before).
Hopefully now they can concentrate on building cars worthy of the fabulous Aston Martin heritage and consign this fiasco to the history books. If in the process they fire whoever in the marketing department thought this was a good idea (along with that simply atrocious Rapide "cool movie" they concocted) then all the better.
Come on Aston, you're above cheap stunts like this, dump this terrible runt (for an Aston, as a £10K Toyota it's probably fine) and stick with making proper quality cars, in whatever form that is.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Wondering whether anyone had actually seen any on the road as I was curious to know whether Aston had shifted any. A few sightings, not many and no way of knowing whether they were dealer cars.
Well, according to Car Magazine this month it seems that in 2011 Aston sold a whopping 89 into the UK. Or did they? I'm guessing these are registration figures rather than actual sales (it doesn't say where the data came from) so maybe many are "pre reg" cars and dealer demos. Certainly there are plenty for sale at Aston dealers (18 in the Pistonheads Classifieds alone, which is 20% of total sold ever sold into the UK).
Interestingly, many are advertised as "price on application", as though they don't really know what they're worth (I guess if non are selling, how do you judge it)?
A lot of people seemed to think that the wealthy would buy them regardless as "price is not an issue", and that Aston owners would have one as a "city runabout". Indeed if I recall correctly, originally they were only going to be sold to Aston owners. A policy that was very very quickly dropped. Wonder why...
I'd say this confirms that, contrary to popular belief (and wishful thinking) the majority of wealthy people are not stupid, nor do they wish to be taken for fools, and that £31K (sorry, £30,995, well done marketing department, that Tesco style fiver off really helped didn't it) for a tarted up Toyota aint gonna do it for them.
I have to say I'm relieved. It always struck me as a very cynical attempt to cash in on Aston's exclusive "brand DNA" and fantastic image, and it risked ruining that very image in the process. (If it really had been simply about having a low emissions vehicle in the range then they should/would have used the Lagonda or Tickford brand, as they have before).
Hopefully now they can concentrate on building cars worthy of the fabulous Aston Martin heritage and consign this fiasco to the history books. If in the process they fire whoever in the marketing department thought this was a good idea (along with that simply atrocious Rapide "cool movie" they concocted) then all the better.
Come on Aston, you're above cheap stunts like this, dump this terrible runt (for an Aston, as a £10K Toyota it's probably fine) and stick with making proper quality cars, in whatever form that is.
slipstream 1985 said:
I almost sense a whoosh for the op.
Did/ do aston care about making money from this car?
I was under the belief it was purely for bringing down the companies average fuel consumption and co2 figures.
This. Did/ do aston care about making money from this car?
I was under the belief it was purely for bringing down the companies average fuel consumption and co2 figures.
Quite a few Aston employees have had them a I believe. Mainly because of the deals they get on them.
Also, a lot of Aston staff currently have Mondeo's as company cars, they've all been told the 2013 Mondeo with the 'Aston front end' won't be on the company car choice list as it's bad p for their image.
slipstream 1985 said:
I almost sense a whoosh for the op.
Did/ do aston care about making money from this car?
I was under the belief it was purely for bringing down the companies average fuel consumption and co2 figures.
Yes they do care - in absolute margin terms, they make as much money by selling a Cygnet as they do a DB9. They also expected them to sell like hotcakes - they are very important to Aston.Did/ do aston care about making money from this car?
I was under the belief it was purely for bringing down the companies average fuel consumption and co2 figures.
In addition to this, the CO2 myth is rubbish. Manufacturers must make in excess of 10,000 cars for this to apply. They make significantly fewer cars in reality (around the 6,000 mark in 2010 iirc).
George H said:
slipstream 1985 said:
I was under the belief it was purely for bringing down the companies average fuel consumption and co2 figures.
I'm fairly sure Dr. Bez has stated that it is nothing to do with emissions.As has been said, they could have used Lagonda or Tickford badging if that were the aim rather than prostituting the Aston brand for a quick buck flogging Toyotas for a huge mark up.
TheTurbonator said:
Aston Martin only sell them because they have no choice under new EU regulation that states that all car manufacturers have to achieve an average CO2 rating for all the cars it sells.
A 1.0 3 cylinder supermini brings that average down nicely.
To re-iterate myself from another thread - AM do NOT need to make it to satisfy the EU average emissions directive as they don't make enough cars (I.e they made less than half of the 10,000 car threshold last year). In addition to this, they could have made the Cygnet with a much looser association to the AM brand if they wanted to.A 1.0 3 cylinder supermini brings that average down nicely.
The Cygnet is made because:
1. AM believed that demand would be exceptionally high for them. Apparently forecast to peak at 1,500 a year (not bad considering AM sold 4,500 cars in 2010).
2. They are able to make a huge margin on them - I.e. similar to the margin on current models (couple this to the additional 1,500 cars).
3. Increased brand awareness.
Ari said:
George H said:
slipstream 1985 said:
I was under the belief it was purely for bringing down the companies average fuel consumption and co2 figures.
I'm fairly sure Dr. Bez has stated that it is nothing to do with emissions.As has been said, they could have used Lagonda or Tickford badging if that were the aim rather than prostituting the Aston brand for a quick buck flogging Toyotas for a huge mark up.
AndyNetwork said:
Didn't Stirling Moss buy one for Lady Moss???
He certainly "aquired" one for her. Whether he want into an Aston dealer and paid proper money or whether it was a marketing attempt by Aston to reassure people that a high profile person like Stirling would choose such a car is open to debate... 
NickXX said:
To re-iterate myself from another thread - AM do NOT need to make it to satisfy the EU average emissions directive as they don't make enough cars (I.e they made less than half of the 10,000 car threshold last year). In addition to this, they could have made the Cygnet with a much looser association to the AM brand if they wanted to.
The Cygnet is made because:
1. AM believed that demand would be exceptionally high for them. Apparently forecast to peak at 1,500 a year (not bad considering AM sold 4,500 cars in 2010).
2. They are able to make a huge margin on them - I.e. similar to the margin on current models (couple this to the additional 1,500 cars).
3. Increased brand awareness.
1. I'd love to know how they come up with these forecasts. The Cygnet is made because:
1. AM believed that demand would be exceptionally high for them. Apparently forecast to peak at 1,500 a year (not bad considering AM sold 4,500 cars in 2010).
2. They are able to make a huge margin on them - I.e. similar to the margin on current models (couple this to the additional 1,500 cars).
3. Increased brand awareness.
2. That's certainly the case according to an interview with the chairman of AM.
3. But of the right type? Why would you want people who were unaware of AM to associate them with small 1.0 litre hatchbacks, however "posh"?
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