Aston Martin has announced today that its Cygnet minicar based on the Toyota iQ is no longer a concept and is soon to become reality. That reality will be coming as early as next year in fact when full production of the controversial new model is scheduled to start.
Described as the luxury solution to urban mobility, the Cygnet will be built at Aston Martin’s Gaydon facility in the UK using stripped out Toyota iQs shipped from Japan. And the British automaker has no qualms admitting the Cygnet’s intended purpose.
“Aston Martin is honest and we don’t make compromises,” CEO Ulrich Bez stated. “The Cygnet needs to satisfy the demands of emissions and space.”
The Cygnet will ship with a 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine but by late 2013 an all-electric version with a 60 mile range is expected to arrive.
The good news (or the bad, whichever way you look at it) is that the Cygnet is expected to be sold in the U.S. by 2012 with a starting price of around $35,000. The catch is that it will only be sold to existing Aston Martin customers looking for a second car for urban commutes.
