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Aston CEO claims Cygnet cancelled because Toyota is dropping iQ in 2014

While slow sales and a $50,000 price tag may have been contributing factors to the Aston Martin Cygnet being cancelled last month, Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez is pointing the finger at Toyota for the demise of this luxurious little city car. In a discussion with Autocar, Bez is quoted as saying that the ultimate reason the Cygnet was cut is because Toyota plans on dropping the iQ (on which the Cygnet is based) in 2014 - a claim denied by the Japanese automaker.
Interestingly, the article also cites another publication reporting that a Toyota importer in the Netherlands heard the same news as Bez, and it has already stopped importing the cars. If the European Toyota iQ is cancelled, that would likely spell the end of the slow-selling Scion iQ in the US, which has sold just 3,365 units through September (a drop of 51 percent year over year).
Regardless of why production of the Cygnet ended, Bez also says that a lack of support from Toyota on the project prevented it from being offered in the US or receiving a supercharged engine, which are two factors that likely would have made the car appealing to more buyers.

Lexus reportedly working on two different successors to the LFA

The successor to the Lexus LFA is beginning to take shape — in unofficial rumors, at least. The firm's next supercar will reportedly make its debut in the coming years with a V8 under the hood, and it will be followed by a battery-electric model due out at the turn of the decade. Citing anonymous inside sources, Japanese magazine Best Car wrote that the long-awaited car that will take the torch from the limited-edition LFA will land in showrooms in 2025. As we've previously reported, it will be powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain built around a mysterious 4.0-liter V8 engine fitted with two turbochargers. The publication adds that the coupe, whose name hasn't been confirmed, will be launched as a regular-production model and that it will be built on a version of Toyota's TNGA-L platform. This is the same architecture found under the LC and the LS, among models, and using these foundations should allow Lexus to keep the car's cost in check. Engineers could peg the hybrid system's total output at around 700 horsepower, and Best Car reports that the car's front end will borrow styling cues from the Electrified Sport concept (pictured) introduced in December 2021. If the report is accurate, sales will start in 2025. Speaking of which, the Electrified Sport will make its debut with a battery-electric powertrain in 2030 at the earliest. Its design will evolve over the next eight-plus years; it sounds like what we saw in December 2021 more accurately previewed the hybrid supercar than the electric one. It could hit 60 mph from a stop in under 2 seconds, and it could offer a maximum driving range of over 430 miles. Interestingly, the same report points out that the Electrified Sport might use solid-state batteries. That technology's not ready, but Lexus has plenty of time to fine-tune it. Toyota GR GT3 Concept View 8 Photos On the Toyota side of the family tree, the GR GT3 concept unveiled in January 2022 is allegedly on its way to production (in one form or another) as well. It will initially spawn a race car built to GT3 specifications, as its name implies, and it will benefit from the lessons that engineers learned while designing a road-going, Le Mans-inspired hypercar that Toyota consigned to the automotive attic in August 2021. Whether the GR GT3 will be related to the LFA's successor is up in the air, though it doesn't take a significant stretch of the imagination to speculate that some parts will be shared.

Toyota's future fuel cell vehicle lineup revealed?

Being an Olympic sponsor from 2017 through 2024 puts Toyota in the international limelight, and the company is preparing a fleet of efficient, cutting-edge vehicles just in time for the Tokyo games in 2020. At least eight new models could be on the way, according to Automotive News citing Best Car from Japan. Three of those might make use of the hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain developed for the Mirai. While many of these fuel cells are going into Japan-only vehicles, one of them could come here. Reiterating earlier rumors, Automotive News reports a hydrogen-powered Lexus LS is set for 2018. It could be even lighter than the current hybrid model, too. A similar version of the Toyota Crown would launch there in 2019 and possibly an FCEV Estima minivan, too. Beyond fuel cells, Toyota also intends to put the JPN Taxi Concept from the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show into production in time for the games, according to Automotive News. For 2017, the brand's flagship Century is also expected to adopt a hybrid V8 to replace the current V12, as well. Plus, many of its Japanese-market vans are also due for updates. All of this is certainly a massive undertaking to be ready in time, but Tokyo want to use the games as a chance to show the city as an innovative, international destination. Automotive News predicts Toyota could supply thousands of vehicles to haul all of the athletes and dignitaries around. In addition, the Japanese government wants 6,000 fuel cell vehicles on the road and 35 refueling stations up an running for the games. Related Video: