updated 7:38 a.m. ET May 3, 2010
The winged(有翼的) badge(标志) on the nose(车前鼻) may be familiar to those who know the legendary(传奇性的) British marque(商品型号), but the new Aston Martin Cygnet is definitely not the sort of car you’d expect to see super-spy James Bond(詹姆斯·邦德) driving.
Measuring barely 10 feet from nose to tail, the three-door hatchback(装有向上开的后车门的小轿车) is the polar opposite of sleek Aston sports cars, such as the low-slung(低悬挂), 2-seat DBS, that you would normally see 007 piloting through his latest adventure. But the automaker(汽车制造商), now owned by a Kuwaiti-led consortium, believes the Cygnet is more in tune with(与……相一致) global realities.
Aston isn’t the only high-line maker betting(打赌) there’s a growing market for downsized(小尺寸的) luxury(奢侈的) products. And with regulators(监管者) in Europe and North America clamping down(压制) on emissions(排放物) and fuel economy(节省), brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and even Cadillac are weighing in(参加) with pint-size(小型的) offerings of their own.