TODAY 19 MAY Exclusive Aston Martin News

...this year. Company chief Ulrich Bez has said that the Cygnet would be offered to buyers of top-shelf Aston models as a distinctive, intelligent and exclusive solution for urban travel. “This concept – akin to an exclusive tender to a luxury yacht – will allow us to apply Aston Martin design language, craftsmanship and brand values to a completely new segment of the market,” said Dr Bez. “The offering of a Cygnet with a DBS, DB9 or Vantage is a unique combination of opposites and a novel transport solution, allowing intelligent and sensitive mobility on an exclusive and innovative level.” But keen customers – and apparently there are plenty of them – will have to pay for the privilege of driving this Toyota-based Aston, with an expected pricetag of about $60,000, plus on-road costs, making it Australia’s most expensive light car by a margin of about $20,000.

Aston Martin’s regional operations manager Marcel Fabris said the Cygnet officially remained a concept car while its viability around the world was assessed, but admitted it is likely to go into series production.

“The thought at this point is that it will go into production and be released initially in Europe and the UK,” Mr Fabris told us.

“If that does happen, then it will be very, very strongly considered for the Australian market because we have actually seen quite a lot of local interest for the car. The interest in Cygnet has surprised us – really surprised us.”

He said three distinct groups of people in Australia had expressed interest in the Cygnet – existing Aston Martin owners wanting a car for their wife or children; aspiring owners who cannot yet afford a $350,000-plus sportscar; and commercial operators such as premium hotels and conference centres that would use the Cygnet as a unique form of transport for their clientele.

“It is a very exciting, funky, bespoke car. It will be very exclusive, like all Aston Martins, and we expect to have a similar following to the Mini and Fiat 500 – a fashion accessory as well as a functional piece of somebody’s garage.”

The Cygnet’s price would be about double that of Australia’s current most expensive micro-car, the $25,290 Smart ForTwo Cabrio Turbo, or five times the price of the cheapest, the $11,790 Suzuki Alto.

Aston is reportedly planning to build 4000 Cygnets a year. The base car will be supplied by Toyota Motor Europe from its Belgian plant and then heavily modified at Aston’s Gaydon factory in the UK.

In Toyota guise, the 2985mm-long mini is available as a two- or four-seater with a choice of 1.0 and 1.3-litre petrol engines and a 1.4-litre diesel, producing 50kW/98Nm, 2kW/123Nm and 66kW/118Nm respectively. However, the engine bay is said to be big enough for a 1.6-litre engine.

CO2 emissions figure will be important to Aston Martin as Europe has signalled its intention to adopt strict CO2 emissions standards that demand a new-car company fleet average of 130g/km by 2015 or suffer significant financial penalities on each car sold.

None of the existing Aston models comes close to the new standard, with the current DB9 Volante, for example, emitting 389g/km.