Lacklustre sales signals end to Cygnet
Customers not willing to pay $50,000 for luxury subcompact
Aston Martin, the maker of sports cars favoured by Prince Charles and driven by James Bond, is dropping the Cygnet city car following lacklustre sales to refocus on models more geared to their traditional customers.
“Cygnet production will end this year,” Sarah Calam, a spokeswoman for the Gaydon, Englandbased manufacturer, said in an emailed statement. The model is based on Toyota Motor Corp.’s iQ subcompact.
The hand-stitched leather interior and Aston Martin badge was not enough to persuade customers to pay $50,000 for the model, more than double the price of the iQ, which provided the engine, transmission and frame.
Demand for the model, which was developed in about 12 months, was well below the automaker’s sales target of at least 1,500 per year.
The ultra-luxury carmaker, which unlike rivals isn’t backed by a larger auto manufacturer, aimed to keep down development costs by working with Toyota to bring the model to market two year ago. Since then, London-based investment firm Investindustrial purchased a 37.5 per cent stake and laid out plans in January to spend $830 million US on expansion in the next four years.
Aston Martin is aiming to double sales by 2016 with new models and a wider dealer network.