Aston Martin Cygnet gets green light: What would Bond say?

Can you hear that? That's the sound of James Bond crying into his martini, because Aston Martin's just confirmed the odd-looking Cygnet city-car concept will become a reality in 2011.

If you ask Aston Martin, it'll tell you the car was born of a desire to provide its customers with a small vehicle for urban and city use. Let's face it -- its petrol-pilfering V8 and V12 supercars simply aren't ideal for commuting. The reality, though, is that the Cygnet will allow the company to comply with the EU's forthcoming average CO2 emissions targets, which state that 65 per cent of a car manufacturer's fleet must emit no more than 130g/km by 2012.

CO2 figures from the Cygnet's 1.3-litre 96bhp engine have yet to be confirmed, but it'll be a fraction of the 388g/km spewed by the V12 Vantageand DBS. It's unlikely to bring Aston Martin's average fleet emissions down to the required 130g/km level, but given that the company is a low-volume manufacturer, it should be able to negotiate with the EU and agree on its own, more realistically achievable targets.

Personally, we'd have preferred if Aston Martin had attempted to meet the EU's demands by creating a hybrid or electric car instead of modifying a Toyota, but the latter is undeniably the cheaper, safer, quicker option. Plus, the Toyota iQ's already proved itself as a fantastic city car and could make a great companion to the larger, sexier models in the range -- provided you can get over its rather odd looks.

The Cygnet's pricing and full specification are set to be announced later this year, but don't expect it to come cheap. Word on the Interwebs is that it'll cost somewhere in the region of £30,000 -- which is considerably more than the £10,228 the entry-level iQ costs.

We'll bring you more information on the Cygnet as we get it. In the meantime, take a closer look at the car by watching this preview video we shot at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.