“Proud of your car”: how manufacturers also take care of the design of cars without a license

A small round face, two equally round lights, round like the suitcase in the luggage rack under the rear window. With its cartoon car appearance, the Fiat Topolino leaves no one indifferent on the streets of Paris where we tested it in mid-March.

Like its cousin, the Citroën Ami, the small electric car without a license seduces above all for its design. In just a few years, these two models have awakened a very conservative sector in terms of lines.

From the desire for anonymity…

“Ten or fifteen years ago, the license-free car clientele was quite traditional,” says François Ligier, president of the brand of the same name.

“These customers did not necessarily want to be identified as unlicensed car drivers.”

Unlike teenagers who multiply publications on social networks with their “Sans-P” (small diminutive for cars without a license).

Therefore, this request for anonymity left classic brands like Aixam or Ligier with a “very classic” design for a long time. The technical limitations imposed on cars without permission (three meters long and 1.50 meters wide maximum) also weighed on the design, sometimes giving the impression of seeing compressed classic cars.

…to the customer “proud of his car”

A trend that began to change ten years ago for François Ligier, with the approval of the authorization to drive a car without a license between the ages of 16 and 14.

“Then we launched the JS50, our first vehicle aimed at a younger audience,” continues François Ligier. The style is stronger and the best-selling color in this model was red, which made us understand that the customer was proud of his car.

Like manufacturers such as Citroën or Fiat, Ligier has a designer to imagine the lines of future models. In fact, this criterion has gained importance with the arrival of a new clientele: parents of teenagers who drive “Sans-P”.

“With our first electric car, the Myli, we are approaching a new, more urban audience in large cities,” explains François Ligier. “These drivers have permission and are looking above all for a practical model. Here the design is important.”