Baby Aston Martin Cygnet
Discussion
When you think Rover got slagged off for badge engineering!
If it's your kind of thing, just go for the Toyota, buy an Aston Martin badge and stick it on the front and save 10 grand in the process
No doubt it'll sell... let's face it, save the planet idiots are prepared to pay 16 grand for a G-Wiz, so...
Sad.
If it's your kind of thing, just go for the Toyota, buy an Aston Martin badge and stick it on the front and save 10 grand in the process
No doubt it'll sell... let's face it, save the planet idiots are prepared to pay 16 grand for a G-Wiz, so...
Sad.
I know the resons for its creation, but to my mind, Astons have to be exclusive.
Now, how long will it be before someone releases a bodykit for IQs that makes it look identical to a Cygnet?
Then every chav will own one, and thanks to the mechanical specification and the interchangeability of parts, will be able to enunciate with confidence:
"I have an Aston Martin.
Innit.
Blud."
Now, how long will it be before someone releases a bodykit for IQs that makes it look identical to a Cygnet?
Then every chav will own one, and thanks to the mechanical specification and the interchangeability of parts, will be able to enunciate with confidence:
"I have an Aston Martin.
Innit.
Blud."
Aston Martin used to be my favourite car firm, and not necessarily due to 007 either - my favourite is the DB4GT Zagato. I remember a time when seeing one was an event in itself, you'd come into school and tell your mates 'I saw an Aston Martin this morning'.
Nowadays I see them every day, all in sterile-looking James Bond Resale Silver. Good-looking, yes, but not special any more. This has just made them a little bit less special.
People bang on about how their new marketing-led, populist approach is vital for survival in the modern market, but it really isn't at all.
Put it this way - Maserati are playing in the same market, their cars have comparable strengths, but none of the irritating gimmicks that Aston have succumbed to have found their way onto Maseratis. They don't have marketing meetings to decide what to rename their ignition keys. The dashboard doesn't say 'Potere, Bellezza, Spirito' when you fire up the engine, and they don't rely solely on a fictional secret agent to sell their cars (the 'recognition factor' of which seems to be forcing the design brief never to stray from the 'DB5 shape' in case Bond fans fail to recognise their favourite car, so we'll never get a modern equivalent of a DBS Vantage, Lagonda V8 or Virage again).
Nowadays I see them every day, all in sterile-looking James Bond Resale Silver. Good-looking, yes, but not special any more. This has just made them a little bit less special.
People bang on about how their new marketing-led, populist approach is vital for survival in the modern market, but it really isn't at all.
Put it this way - Maserati are playing in the same market, their cars have comparable strengths, but none of the irritating gimmicks that Aston have succumbed to have found their way onto Maseratis. They don't have marketing meetings to decide what to rename their ignition keys. The dashboard doesn't say 'Potere, Bellezza, Spirito' when you fire up the engine, and they don't rely solely on a fictional secret agent to sell their cars (the 'recognition factor' of which seems to be forcing the design brief never to stray from the 'DB5 shape' in case Bond fans fail to recognise their favourite car, so we'll never get a modern equivalent of a DBS Vantage, Lagonda V8 or Virage again).
B_KING said:
aston have lost allll my admiration for them. WTF was going though there heads when they thought about this?
I assume, though possibly incorrectly, that it's actually quite a clever move. VM's will soon have to meet average CO2 targets across the whole model range. IMO this is the cause of the other anomolies - three cylinder boxsters, hybrid Ferraris, and BMW reducing the cylinder count on the m-cars. By selling a reasonable amount of these things Aston can forget having to totally redesign the whole range to meet CO2 regs (if that is even possible), and concentrate on making good, traditional V8 and V12s. All whilst sticking a giant finger up to the EU. Good on them I say...VxDuncan said:
B_KING said:
aston have lost allll my admiration for them. WTF was going though there heads when they thought about this?
I assume, though possibly incorrectly, that it's actually quite a clever move. VM's will soon have to meet average CO2 targets across the whole model range. IMO this is the cause of the other anomolies - three cylinder boxsters, hybrid Ferraris, and BMW reducing the cylinder count on the m-cars. By selling a reasonable amount of these things Aston can forget having to totally redesign the whole range to meet CO2 regs (if that is even possible), and concentrate on making good, traditional V8 and V12s. All whilst sticking a giant finger up to the EU. Good on them I say...A similar conundrum appeared in the '80s, but they dealt with it so much better. Aston Martin used their Tickford subsidiary to kit out an MG Metro Turbo to the same interior standards as the V8 of the time. Some subtle Tickford badging, an aerodynamic bodykit and a little bit more power were the only clues. It was made by Aston Martin, marketed by Aston Martin as a 'tender' for V8 owners during the oil crisis of the early '80s, but it was NEVER an 'actual' Aston Martin. At one point in the oil crisis of the late '70s, they were planning to take the MGB under their wing too, for similar reasons.
They still have access to Tickford. They could still have produced a Tickford version of the IQ, or any other small car for that matter (I personally would have liked to see them use a small roadster, like the Daihatsu Copen, given a 'baby Vantage' look, badged the Tickford Roadster or something) without claiming it was an Aston Martin.
And without those absurd bulging bonnet vents too. It reminds me of those dummy plastic Ferrari V8s people put in the back of Peugeot 405C-based 360 Modena replicas.
It's a shame that Aston Martin is running away from its nature... but the market has a great power over the brand's choices...and the "eco-market" is getting stronger and stronger. Brands have to step forward in terms of efficiency and environment friendship... has this been the right step??? probably not!!!
Disappointment...
Disappointment...
Speedy1985 said:
It's a shame that Aston Martin is running away from its nature... but the market has a great power over the brand's choices...and the "eco-market" is getting stronger and stronger. Brands have to step forward in terms of efficiency and environment friendship... has this been the right step??? probably not!!!
Disappointment...
But that's the thing - they didn't actually have to call it an Aston Martin did they? It could have been a Tickford.Disappointment...
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