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44 Comments
- dvsbastard, on 07/01/2009, -1/+30What is the point of the Aston Martin badge if it doesn't have the power, luxury and exotic class...
Give me a DB9 / V12 Vanquish any day! - bonkeykong, on 07/01/2009, -2/+27May as well just get a Rolls Royce decal for your Smart Car
- Shaggy6ster, on 07/01/2009, -2/+24The headline made me very excited. The picture made me very disappointed.
- borez, on 07/01/2009, -2/+15Good lord no, whose stupid idea was this? The whole point of an Aston is its exclusivity and prestige, beauty and power, not the fact you can get one-up on a mini or smart car driver down the local Sainsbury's.
*Shudder* - cslawren, on 07/01/2009, -0/+9True, it might be around 33,000 USD with conversion, but £20,000 is a decent price for a car in the UK. The thing you've got to remember is purchasing power. For example, a candy bar in the UK can go for maybe £1.35, and in the US we would consider $1.35 to be reasonable for a candy bar. To give you an even better example, a new Ford Focus will go for £14,645 according to Ford's website. MSRP in the US is $15,000-18,000, so nearly equal. What I'm getting at is that there is much more to foreign prices than just converting currency. GDP per capita is different, purchasing power is different, the market as a whole is different. You can't look at the price and say oh, well that's going to cost me $33,000 when it comes to the US. No, they will tailor the price to the US market.
- SPNKrPunk, on 07/01/2009, -3/+12Well I applaud Aston's attempt at expansion, but a small PINK car that looks like something Hello Kitty would produce is not where they should be heading. Nissan tried something similar with the Micra C+C Pink.
http://www.carpages.co.uk/nissan/nissan-micra-c+c- ...
I really can't wait for Top Gear to get a hold of this one. Clarkson is going to blow a fuse. - raptorlightning, on 07/01/2009, -3/+1220,000 pounds is still like $33,000. Not quite the car for the masses.
- inactive, on 07/01/2009, -2/+9These are going to be some sick wheels.
- hallo2u, on 07/01/2009, -1/+6it looks like a smart car got rapped by a db9
and because the smart car is related to the Governor of Alaska it had to keep the baby - j3rm1981, on 07/01/2009, -0/+5I feel your concern, and I understand.
However, this is the lesser of two evils; the greater being that AM loose so much revenue due to the fact that not everyone can afford to go out and buy one of their sports cars in any economic climate let alone this one, that they have to close the doors.
I'd much rather see them develop small, more affordable cars like this, and manage to keep their doors open whilst we all ride out the storm.
That said, I don't know why they can't simply market it under a new badge, like Fiat & Ferrari. You don't see Fiat supercars, but everyone knows a Ferrari.
Edit: final point - it's not going to be 'something you buy at Toys R Us like some are suggesting. This is AM, after all. It will be high-quality. - MooseOfReason, on 07/01/2009, -0/+4That car looks like an angry mofo.
- shlerm, on 07/01/2009, -3/+7haha, car for the masses? you need to own an aston martin already to buy one
- jefe925, on 07/01/2009, -3/+6This is sacrilege.
- Mo0eY, on 07/01/2009, -1/+4Marshmallow Mobile.
- Harelip, on 07/01/2009, -0/+3Colossal mis-step? That car saved Aston Martin from going out of business.
I'm sure they'd happily make a similar mis-step this time, then again maybe the people running Aston Martin don't know as much as a random idiot on digg who doesn't know what an Aston Martin Lagonda is. - franklymister, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2Did you really just insult the LAGONDA?
You know nothing about cars, or Aston Martin. - BobSagetFan, on 07/01/2009, -2/+4That looks like something you would buy at Toys R Us. It better shoot nails out the back or have heat seeking missiles on the side, otherwise it's no different than a Honda Civic.
- warriorscot, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2Pretty average price for a decent car in the UK, once you get out of the small super fuel effecient cars the next size up usually starts around 13-14K for something reasonably good and then the next one up is around 20K which is fairly normal and a big market.
- dafragsta, on 07/01/2009, -3/+5Well, they clearly didn't want to undercut sales on their more signature models. That thing looks like the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.
http://www.littletikes.com/toys/cozy-coupe-ii-car. ... - aralls, on 07/02/2009, -0/+2from the article:
Vehicles made each year 7,000 - SasquatchBill, on 07/01/2009, -1/+3Ugh. Did it have to look so damned smugly?
- j3rm1981, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2Holy *****! Bury this dirtbag!
- kesbar, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2This is because a HUGE part of that price is tax. The UK taxes the hell out of you if you need a car.
- howdareyou, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1If they're just handing them out I'll take a DBS please, after all it is $100,00 more than the DB9.
- mmmbiscuits, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2i think the pinkish colour in the photo is due to it being a clay mockup, notice the shavings on the ground. and lack of any visibility inside of the cabin.
- hasslinthehoff, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1I would think it might be better to develop a smaller, less expensive ragtop Aston than slap the badge on some gussed-up Toyota micro and hope that customers don't think it's the most ridiculous atrocity since the Porsche 914. But that's just me talking crazy.
- Atomisc, on 07/06/2009, -0/+1dumbass
- inactive, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2might as well do this:
http://www.oldbug.com/Mvc-004f.jpg - cslawren, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1I agree, I wonder if we'll here from Clarkson on this one in the current series, or if he'll say something about it in his Sunday Times column, or both.
- franklymister, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1You can't just measure exchange rate to determine equivalent prices. For example, a Honda Civic can run you £20k, as could a BMW 1-series, a VW Golf, or a Ford Focus:
http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/honda/honda-civic- ...
http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/bmw/bmw-1-series-1 ...
http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/volkswagen/volkswa ...
http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/ford/ford-focus-ze ...
If you look at all cars available in the UK, the vast, vast majority cost between £18-25k http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/ - inactive, on 07/01/2009, -0/+0thats definately not the most awful spam ever...
- goochie, on 07/01/2009, -1/+1Of all the cars available, why choose iQ to build on? Toyota could have built their own Lexus version of iQ if they want to.
- Schmich, on 07/01/2009, -1/+1I'm sorry but cars are fairly well priced around exchange rates otherwise you would see a lot more exporting/importing on newer cars.
If you're going to compare something small then a candy isn't ideal at all considering how much those change within the country. Maybe the big mac index would be better but I guess that wouldn't fit your argument well as you're getting $3.54 vs £2.29.
Also don't forget the size of the car. £20'000 for a very small city car is not for the masses either. - grumpyrain, on 07/01/2009, -1/+1I suspect it is at least partly to allow them to claim a substantially lower fuel consumption "over their range". But it is just another freaking Toyota white good with a badge.
- Eslamicolt3, on 07/01/2009, -1/+1You're just upset because your headlights stopped working and your cathode-tube dash doesn't light up anymore.
- welshie, on 07/01/2009, -3/+3Isn't this all to do with some sort of legislation stating that manufacturers have to have an average low fuel consumption / low emissions figures across their range. Manufacturers such as Porsche, who only make powerful fuel-guzzling cars really hate that legislation.
By effectively re-badging (and a bit of restyling of) a small Toyota, they get their range average efficiency figures good; it doesn't matter that nobody will pay £20,000 for a car that Toyota themselves sell at about half that price. It'll be there hidden at the back of the catalogue, after the overpriced driving gloves and spare keyfobs. - geenski, on 07/01/2009, -0/+0pow pow powerwheels!!!
- Eslamicolt3, on 07/01/2009, -5/+4Who is running Aston these days? Toyota can build cars like this because they can produce a ***** ton of them and sell them really cheap. They're a massive auto-maker. Aston Martin sells cars to a niche market, and commands a higher price for the premium. Who is going to spend $35,000 on this thing? Certainly not "the masses". If you can afford this and not a DB9, you'll buy an entry level BMW or Audi. If you CAN afford a DB9 and you buy this, what the ***** is wrong with you? Aston is missing the point of their pedigree. I want power, beauty and soul, not an expensive Smart Car. This does nothing but dilute the brand.
However, this wouldn't be their first colossal miss-step. Remember this thing? Yeah, me neither.
http://planetagadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/1 ...
Who'd they team up with on that one, Volvo? - wicki1, on 07/01/2009, -3/+2Garbage car..... :)
- IllicitWeaponry, on 07/01/2009, -2/+1Its an Aston Martin but still looks as gay as a lumberjack getting a facial. (not the exfoliating kind)
FAIL :D - nublet, on 07/01/2009, -2/+1honda fit > this.
- sinurgy, on 07/01/2009, -4/+2That can't be serious?! You can badge it however you want, that is a ***** Scion!
- gkiltz, on 07/01/2009, -3/+0How do they plan to crank out enough of them to make a go of it?
The cheaper the car, the more units to break even!
Aston Martin typically builds around 50 cars per year! - adventureindia, on 07/01/2009, -11/+1You are right bonkey, may as well just get a Rolls Royce
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