Aston Martin's black sheep

ASTON MARTIN ARE are proving that a little cosmetic surgery is enough to pull the wool over the eyes of those with more money than sense.

Here's a question; would you pay over £30k for a small Toyota city car? Thought not, how about if I stick an Aston Martin badge over the Toyota one and throw in a bit of leather? Still no? Well Aston Martin are doing just that and have already found 400 idiots buyers who are willing to fork out the minimum 30 grand asking price.

The Toyota IQ is a very good car, it is small and economical yet capable of comfortably carrying four adults. It might not set your trousers on fire but it is a tidy handler and can hold it's own amongst city traffic too. What Aston Martin do is ship a fully assembled, £12k IQ from Japan then 150 workers set about slapping a new nose on the front, re-stitching the interior and super-gluing a couple of Aston badges on before rolling it out the door and adding adding over £18k to the price tag.

It may seem like madness but there is some logic behind it.
Aston Martin drivers like their cars, but in a city, a V12 engined car that's as wide as a bus and as valuable as most of the surrounding houses isn't the most practical choice. What these people need is a city car. Why not just buy an IQ then? Because it doesn't have the right image, simple as that. These people need everyone to know that they have money, so even though it's basically the same car they'll happily stump up the extra just so passers-by know that they can afford to.

The other reason is the upcoming EU legislation which will average out a car makers CO2 output across their entire range of cars. This is bad news for makers like Aston because sportscars, by their very nature, produce a lot of carbon dioxides. Having a small, frugal car in your line-up will bring the average figure down by a significant amount.

Don't get me wrong, the Cygnet is a very good little car. The problem is that the Toyota is just as good but costs less than half as much. It may not have posh seats or a desirable badge on it's nose but I'd rather make do with a normal car and pocket the £18,000 that I'll save.

I don't need to 'get it' though, the Cygnet is not aimed at me, it is aimed at the kind of person who spends £10k on a watch without thinking twice or who uses iPads as drinks coasters. As long as they 'get it' that's all that matters and if the 400 deposits already on the order books is anything to go by, there are plenty of stupid rich people who do.