Citroën Ami: the promise of a car without a license at a low price?

In rural and peri-urban areas poorly served by public transport, parents quickly tire of serving as drivers for their offspring. So they end up giving in to scooter blackmail, despite their fear of accidents. Only alternative? Pay the price of a car without a license, much safer than a two-wheeler. At 9,499 euros from the French Aixam, Europe’s leading manufacturer, the cheapest of these two-seater carts is only 1,700 euros less than the most accessible “real car” of the moment, the Fiat Panda. “So inevitably when the Citroën Ami landed in the spring of 2020 with its price of 6,900 euros (ecological bonus of 900 euros not deducted), the success was immediate”, says Jean-Michel Martins, who distributes carts in Coignières (Yvelines).

Controlled budget

Between 2012 and 2019, an average of 12,000 carts were registered per year in France. In six months, the market has risen to 15,000 units in 2020, driven by the Citroën Ami alone. Then to 22,000 in 2022, including 5,951 registrations for Citroën, which claims a 30% market share at the end of the first quarter of 2022. Inflation obliges, the base price today amounts to 7,390 euros. But once the bonus has been deducted, the Friend returns to 6,490 euros. It is even possible to pay only 3,100 euros by choosing long-term rental: the Friend is then offered to you for 48 months for a monthly payment of 19.99 euros.

The promise of a controlled budget, for reassured parents. Historical brands cannot align, with production costs burdened by lower series. Above all, their models embed a luxury of refinements which the Citroën dispenses with, stripped to the extreme. Heating, radio, electric window and airbag are simply unavailable on the Ami. And yet, despite its price, it steals few customers from conventional carts, whose sales have doubled since 2017 in Europe.

“These diesel models meet a need that cannot be satisfied by the electric Friend with its 70 kilometers of autonomy”, explains Jean-Michel Martins, some buyers of whom can travel 15,000 to 20,000 kilometers per year. To each his own clientele. With an average transaction price of 12,500 euros, the Aixam, Ligier, Chatenet and Bellier continue to attract “isolated retirees and working people without permits”.

Offset image

Citroën confides that while “42% of users of its Amis are under 18”, no less than 77% of buyers are “parents with one or two teenagers” who live for 75% in peri-urban areas, where access to the power outlet is guaranteed, and where public transport is poor. A source of pride for Citroën, 81% of Ami owners were not customers of the brand. “We went to get them from Fnac and Darty, who distribute it among techno objects”, underlines Alain Le Gouguec, Ami product manager. Amusing observation, “parents borrow it willingly”, it is a vehicle which “arouses sympathy”, when the carts collect the jokes.

“The projected image is not the same”, boasts Citroën. Therein lies perhaps the most remarkable of the Friend’s achievements. Not only is its motorization electric (a technology still rare among carts), but it chooses to “deviate from the stylistic codes of the automobile”, analyzes Matas Buzelis, of CarVertical. Understand that where carts strive to transpose on a reduced scale the style of the Mini Cooper and the Fiat 500, Citroën is betting on sacrificing elegance on the altar of cost price. “To simplify manufacturing, the front and rear faces are identical, and the doors are interchangeable with each other”, assumes Alain Le Gouguec. Risk-taking pays off.

Assembled at low cost in Morocco, the Amis are all painted the same matt gray, enhanced with stickers charged extra. First perceived as destitutely ugly, this humble little car has found an unexpected echo among high school students, who see it as “an invitation to give free rein to their imagination”, notes Stéphanie Lecoq, manager of Piecessanspermis.fr. This spare parts specialist based in Tourcoing saw the Friend invade the car parks of high schools in the listed districts of Marcq-en-Barœul and Bondues.

She marvels at the “creativity” of some young people who “3D print accessories to personalize it”. Not one that does not display its distinctive sign.

This success gives ideas to the competition. If the cost of the battery makes the economic equation “very difficult to solve” for Aixam, which, with Chatenet, Ligier and Bellier announce models “around 18,000 to 20,000 euros”, a serious threat is brewing on the side of Mobilize (Renault Group) and Seat MÓ (Volkswagen Group). In the meantime, l’Ami occupies the ground: it is now distributed in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Turkey and Morocco. This extends the delivery time to twenty weeks for anyone ordering at the end of May. Too late to show off at the start of the school year in September.

Well-regulated conduct

Commonly called cart or car without a license, the light motor quadricycle is assimilated to a moped by the Highway Code. As a result, his conduct is accessible from the age of 14 in France.

The young driver must nevertheless hold an AM license, formerly called road safety certificate (or BSR). This title is delivered without examination, at the end of a theoretical and practical training of eight hours minimum. Despite these precautions, an accident can still happen. In exchange for its leniency, the administration therefore limits the performance of these vehicles. Under European Regulation 168/2013/EU, which governs the manufacture and approval of three- and four-wheel quadricycles, their speed cannot exceed 45 km/h, their power cannot exceed 6 kW (8.15 horsepower ) and their mass, 425 kilos.

Constraints that are imposed on all carts, whether they use a diesel or electric motor.

Aixam factory, in Aix-les-Bains (Savoie). The motors of the carts are restricted to 45 km/h.

(Le Dauphiné lLibéré/MaxPPP)

In six months, registrations have increased from 12,000 to 15,000 in 2020. In the first quarter of 2022, the brand claims a 30% market share.