Aston Martin Cygnet makes debut in Harrods department store in London

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By Brett Davis | November 16th, 2010

Aston Martin has selected one of the world’s largest department store chains as a showroom platform to debut its brand-new, albeit mostly Toyota-developed, luxury super mini. The Aston Martin Cygnet was put on display inside Harrods in London’s Brompton Road store earlier this week.

Showcasing the car in Harrods, which is kind of like David Jones in Australia, is the ideal launch pad for the up-market new car when you think about it. It’s placed behind a large, well-lit front window that is exposed to a very busy footpath. It was sure to provoke quite a lot of interest as passersby glanced through.

The Aston Martin Cygnet is heavily based on the Toyota iQ and is garnished with a number of styling tweaks – such as the traditional Aston Martin front grille – and in-car luxury typical of Aston Martin cars. Although official engine specifications haven’t been released yet, reports say the car will still use the 1.3-litre Toyota iQ engine which puts out 73kW of power. Reports also say the car will be available with either a six-speed manual or a CVT transmission as an option.

Said to go on sale during early in 2011, the new car will be built in the Aston Martin factory in Gaydon, UK. Orders are now being taken for the new car, with rumours suggesting the company will give priority to existing Aston Martin owners.

townB

Saw it yesterday, looks great in the flesh, although it could be a little more aggressive, no tail pipes showing or anything. With only 73kW, there’s probably not going to be enough power-for-the-money for the people that are willing to buy it though.

By the way, saying Harrods is like David Jones is a massive insult to Harrods. I can’t seem to recall David Jones selling things such as £100,000 watches.

http://CarAdvice The Salesman

I say ol chap. How dare these convicts make such a comparison. Its just not cricket. If i was to pay $100,000 for a watch i would expect they would throw in a free Aston.
Radbloke

You’re right. Harrods makes David Jones look like NQR.

moi

I just don’t get it.

Deano

They just want a quick and dirty solution to lower they’re fleets average CO2 ommissions. They know that they’re normal clientelle wont be influenced by how this car fares and anyone that does isn’t likely to be in the market for a normal Aston.

nickdl

They’re making a luxury car for the city. No one needs a 5.5m V8 sedan in the middle of London. Most buyers will probably own an Aston but keep it for out of town.

MisterTwo

Totally agree, Harrods is nothing like David Jones. As someone who has visited both David Jones is more like Selfriges/House of Fraser, and Myer is more like Debenhams. There aren\’t enough rich people in Australia to warrant a store like Harrods.
Mark

It doesn’t have any Aston Martin qualities. Surely they can build a small rear wheel drive sports car like a Lancia Stratos. The Cygnet is just an insult to the brand.

Steve-Poyza

Yeah, they should’ve gone through more effort IMO.

Captain Nemo

I really can’t understand why AM chose this horrible little thing. I know it has a bit of a hairdressers car image but AM could of used a Mazda MX5 instead to base their small car on. At least an MX5 has sporting DNA unlike this iQ city car.
Shak

If they were going to make a small car, at least give it proper Aston DNA, like good handling and some more oomph. because im quiet sure ost existing Aston Owners are used to a good shove in the back when they ut their foots down, and will be expecting the same of any car that Aston martin makes.

Baddass

The people who buy these already have Astons presumeably. This is for ’round town duties. It makes perfect sense.

Shak

Thats my point. Aston have said they will offer them to existing Aston martin owners first, so although they are buying a much smaller car and should expect a little less performance, they still need something that they can be happy driving around in everyday.

Baddass

How much performance do you think this thing can take? How well do you want it to handle? It’s a tall, stubby, front wheel drive microcar. It’s not going to be churning up a racetrack anytime soon. The max power that buzzy little engine could take (whithout sounding like a brushcutter) would be aroun 70-80kw. And even then, it would be slow and buzzy. There’s no point lifting the performance with this car.

Peter

I love it. The ultimate “up yours”. That’s not to say I’d want to drive one though. I’d probably rather one of those tiny fiats.
Shak

Again, my whole point is Aston could have put in some more effort. But your own engine in, trick up the suspension, do something other than a ghastly leather interior and a tacked on badge.

nickdl

Has anyone said it’s got bad handling yet? I thought the Toyota iQ was okay in that area. Anyway it will have all of the same interior colour choices and features so it is pretty similar to a proper Aston

ryan bane

have they announced prices yet. Romour was they were turning a (uk pond) 12k Toyota IQ into a 30k+ Toyota IQ… insane…
ryan bane

have they announced prices yet? Romour was they were turning a (uk pound) 12k Toyota IQ into a 30k+ Toyota IQ (with an Aston badge… insane…
The Realist

I concur with some others on here – Harrods is in a different league to David Jones…