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Origins
Aixam of Aix-les-Bains built its empire on a French legal niche: voitures sans permis — microcars drivable without a full licence — and the City, in generations from the 2000s onward, became the segment's definitive product: a sub-500-kilogram two-seater with a small diesel or later electric drivetrain limited to 45 km/h, bought by rural teenagers, the elderly, and licence-suspended drivers whose euphemisms the French find endlessly amusing. Build quality and equipment rose steadily until the City resembled a miniaturised conventional car rather than an enclosed scooter. Aixam's dominance made it Europe's largest microcar maker, absorbed by America's Polaris in 2013. The City matters sociologically: proof that mobility regulation creates markets, and that serving them well is a genuine industry.
Mega City Car · Brian Snelson · CC BY 2.0
