An AMI effect is blowing through the mobility sector. Following the success of the small electric Citroën, many brands are presenting small urban electric cars this autumn, with or without a license, all made for daily trips. Aixam, La Bagnole, XEV, Microlino, Silence… eight brands are exhibiting this week at the Paris Motor Show. Only the Aixam brand was present four years ago at the last World Cup in 2018.
Sales increased 15% last year
This increased presence reflects its return to favor in its market. According to figures from the firm Inovev, sales of these small vehicles without license plates have gone from 40,000 units a year in France to 20,000 units last year. But in the latter, the market has jumped 15% in a year. “Aixam before Covid, it was around 10 to 12,000 vehicles per year, confesses Philippe Colançon, president of Aixam to BFM Business. Last year we broke a record with 16,000 cars and this year we are going to tangent to 19,000 vehicles”.
Obsolete a few years ago, these small vehicles are increasingly presented as solutions in congested cities, for drivers who do not necessarily want to get their license. As for the Citroën AMI. These minicars are, in fact, acclaimed by the youngest, who can drive from the age of 14 or 16, depending on the model.
The “intermediate vehicles”
These small cars are also echoing consumers and manufacturers who want to limit the environmental footprint of cars and mobility. Even if the sometimes distant places of manufacture of certain models raise doubts.
“It is a form of countercurrent against SUVs,” explains Aurélien Bigo, a researcher specializing in energy transition in transport.
“They are part of a movement where to lower environmental pressure, we are resorting to this type of vehicle. Electric car technology is much more adaptable to these small vehicles”, continues the researcher.
Vehicles that enter a new category, between the bicycle and the car: the “intermediate vehicles”.
“These are individual vehicles that are much more sober than the classic car, which offer great diversity depending on the users and differ from the classic vision of the automobile, which is a car for everything”.
Although various definitions overlap, intermediate vehicles are typically classified as vehicles weighing less than 600 kilos. These vehicles are usually electric: among the “car” manufacturers, only the Aixam brand offers a thermal range.
Beyond what look like little two-seater cars like the BEV Yoyo, the Bagnole, or the small vehicle showcased at the show by Mobilize, certain forms of multi-seater cargo bikes may also fall into this new category.
Cars for daily use.
For Aurélien Bigo, the appearance of these small cars marks a reversal of the paradigm linked to the automobile since practically its creation. Instead of having a single vehicle for everyday use (the vast majority of uses) as well as for exceptional ones (holiday outings), the followers of these small cars have a vehicle adapted to day-to-day use. And take another mobility solution (train, rental, carpooling, etc.) for vacations or long trips.
“They can be a way to reconcile the levers of sobriety, often embodied by the bicycle, and technology, which represents the classic electric car, sums up Aurélien Bigo. Here we take the best of both.”
Source: BFM TV
