Aston Martin Cygnet: Why?

Not many people know this, because probably not many people read the press release, and just assumed that Aston Martin developed and made the Cygnet to just get some more money, and widen their customer base. Incorrect.

The reason behind the Cygnet was a good one. V12's and V8's. That is it. 

Well, that's not entirely it. But I will explain further on that point. The EU "recently" brought in a new legislation, or rule, for all manufacturers to follow, which was that they had to reduce their average CO2 output across their entire range to 130 grammes per kilometre, this only applied to manufacturers who "mass produced" their cars, so brands such as Koenigsegg and Pagani, were not affected by this, as their production numbers are extremely low, so fortunately, we aren't going to be seeing their version of the Cygnet on our roads any time soon. 

Because of this new rule that the EU have introduced, the Cygnet had to be made, so Aston Martin can keep producing their V8 and V12 masterpieces, thus bringing back my original point. Aston Martin's average CO2 output was substantially higher across their range because all the produced were V8 and V12 supercar's. Yes, Ferrari also make V8's and V12's, and Maserati make V8's, Bugatti the W16 and Lamborghini V10's and V12's, but with all the 4 previously mentioned manufacturers, they are all owned by a larger company, Ferrari and Maserati are owned by the Fiat group, who have the Punto and 500 and all of their other cars to lower the average CO2. Lamborghini and Bugatti are owned by VAG, Volkswagen, Audi and more, so they have all of their cars to help lower the average output, but Aston Martin, being an entirely private enterprise, they had nothing.

So they decided to bite the bullet and buy a large quantity of Toyota iQ's and "modify" them in such a way, it fit in with the rest of the line-up outside dealerships, and also tie in the more famous Aston Martin design features, such as the infamous grille, and the rear lights. Yes, it is only has a 1.3 litre engine with 97bhp, exactly the same as the Toyota iQ it stems from, but it is slower than the normal iQ as the extra weight from the exterior changes, and the complete interior re-design, but, it is, as a matter of fact, Aston Martin's life saver.

So there you have it, that's why the world needs the Cygnet. Hopefully, the next generation will become more of swan.

Here are some photoshops I found whilst searching around of what the Maserati and Bugatti versions of the Cygnet would possibly look like, had they gone into production.