Citroën is celebrating the first anniversary of Ami. One year of commitment at the service of easy, agile, accessible to all, safe and comfortable 2-seater electric mobility solution with a unique character. With Ami, Citroën breaks new ground and provides a modern response to a changing world.
Electric, Ami is a zero-emission solution that stands out in the urban landscape and has already attracted more than 9,000 customers in Europe. It is now available in a commercial version with My Ami Cargo. Since last spring, Ami has also been operating in Italy, Spain, Belgium, since this summer in Portugal.
Today, the United Kingdom is throwing open its doors wide to Ami. Already rewarded with prices such as « GQ Car Awards 2021 » et « Auto Express New Car Awards », Ami will be marketed there in 2022.
For individuals, Ami is a guarantee of independence that appeals mainly to multi-vehicle families, often living outside the major city centres. Ami is used by all members of the household. It is a purchase that is considered to be in keeping with the times, given the new challenges of micro-mobility, and 85% of customers would recommend it to someone close to them.
For companies, Ami is a complementary mobility object their fleet contributing to reduce their carbon footprint and offering the advantage of a very low cost of detention. Beyond the five countries in which Ami is marketed, it makes part of initiatives of sustainable mobility in Greece and in Turkey.
1-YEAR REVIEW
Since the launch of Ami in May 2020, this small vehicle has been a real hit. This is reflected in the community of the very first customers who share the same vision of mobility in the Citroën Ami. Many people have become attached to this phenomenon and do not hesitate to dress it up in their own image or in their company’s colours. Ami has totalled 9,000 orders since its launch, including 6,500 for France and 2,000 for Italy, which launched last spring.
WHO ARE THE AMI CUSTOMERS?
Three main customer families have been identified. They share an expectation of independence, autonomy and environmental responsibility:
Most of them are families with children, living in small towns or rural areas, who give importance to use value and aspire to freedom of mobility. In those multi-motorized households, the members of the family share different modes of transport according to their needs. Ami, which is easy to drive, practical and available to everyone from 14 years old, is a complementary mobility solution. It is a pledge of independence for teens and a security guarantee compared to two wheeled vehicles, that allows parents to empower their teenagers while having peace of mind.
For others, autonomy is a top priority. Middle class, often without driving licence, they request a strong personality. Ami, protected and heated, is their main means of transport that brings them ease and fluidity in their daily trips.
Finally, others refocus on the fundamentals, endorsing the environmental dimension. Mainly city dwellers, they no longer want to take public transport and turn to Ami which will become the main means of transport.
Ami appeals to those beyond the major city centres: The majority of our customers tends to live in small towns and rural areas where public transport is scarce and where it is easier to park and recharge. This shows that Ami is not exclusively a city vehicle.
An easy and safe addition to multi-vehicle households: They are generally already at the cutting edge of mobility as they are well equipped and are multi-motorized as they have one or more electric bikes. Ami, which can accommodate two people, is enclosed and heated, perfectly suited to short journeys, and is a good complement to the modes of travel that customers use for other purposes: the car for longer journeys, the bicycle as an active mode of travel to stretch their legs.
A tool for winning market share: a large number of buyers are not Citroën customers, a high rate of market penetration and a major element for the Brand which thus makes contact with new customers. Some of them do not have a driving licence and represent a new category of customer for Citroën.
PURCHASING MOTIVATIONS AND BEHAVIOUR
Attractive positioning and environmental awareness: our customers say they are sensitive to Ami’s price, which is the primary factor in their purchase. They pay particular attention to their mobility budget. They are “eco-citizens” and appreciate that the electric quadricycle helps reduce their energy footprint.
A taste for modernity and new consumption patterns: our customers are fans of innovation, and find an atypical and innovative side in Ami, both in terms of its shape and in terms of the customer journey, with a completely online experience – from the discovery of Ami to its ordering and home delivery -, a new form of distribution at our partner Fnac-Darty, test drives available close to home or finally home delivery like any other mass market product. Connected, they spend an average of almost 5 hours a day on the web and social networks. Ami has thus succeeded in winning the hearts of a new clientele by broadening its distribution method and facilitating the customer experience.
Enthusiasts for a strong style statement: A strong marker of this mobility object, customers are seduced by the potential for customisation. Ami is available in 7 different versions. More than 8 out of 10 customers choose to enhance the character of their Ami by adorning it with colourful accessories. The majority of them prefers the 1st level of personalisation My Ami Orange, My Ami Grey, My Ami Blue or My Ami Khaki; they adopt the playful concept of “Do It Yourself” which allows the customer to apply the stickers or place the various accessories from one of these kits with disconcerting ease.
CITROËN AMI, A RESPONSE TO THE NEW CHALLENGES OF MICRO-MOBILITY
With Ami, Citroën is breaking new ground in micro-mobility. Its philosophy is simple: to promote freedom of movement by offering a hyper-affordable breakthrough electric vehicle. Ami takes a new look at mobility and sees it as a 360° breakthrough, from product to distribution. Born from the observation of changes in transport usage and purchasing behaviour, it responds to the urgent need for better living, a priority for communities and their inhabitants and the inherent need for sustainable, agile and economical micro-mobility solutions:
Electric, agile and with a small footprint, Ami is a suitable answer to access urban centres. The aim is to relieve congestion in polluted cities. Nearly 200 European cities in ten countries have introduced low-emission zones, while others, such as Stockholm, London, Oslo, Milan, Dublin and Singapore, have gone even further by imposing a toll to reduce car traffic by 15 to 20% (according to a study conducted by Game Changers Ipsos in November 2018).
With a range of 75km, easy recharging on a standard 220V socket and offered at an ultra-competitive price, Ami encourages the transition to electric vehicles. Electromobility is expanding rapidly, particularly in urban areas (+132% increase in the European electric market in 2020 vs. 2019). A recent study by the Cetelem Observatory highlights the growing environmental awareness of Europeans, 41% of whom believe that the main advance in the automotive sector over the last ten years is without doubt the production of less polluting vehicles. 68% say they would use their car more if it polluted less and they think that in ten years-time the majority of cars will be hybrids (36%) and electric (13%).
Narrow on the outside but comfortably accommodating 2 people side by side, accessible from 14 years old without a licence, stable on its 4 wheels and closed with a tubular structure, Ami is an agile, comfortable and protective mode of travel. Sales of new individual vehicles are booming. In France, there are reportedly more than 500,000 users of bicycles, scooters and other self-balancing personal transporters, hoverboards or single-wheelers (Ademe 2020 data). Equipment that is not necessarily usable by everyone and subject to the risks of urban traffic. The traditional car is gradually giving way to these emerging, clean solutions, offering a different experience of mobility. Ami guarantees more independence, ease and safety and is positioned as an alternative or complement to these new modes of transport.
Economical from €19.99/month, Ami can be ordered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the online sales site store.citroen.fr/ami.It is also available in the shops of our partner Fnac-Darty and in the participating Citroën network. E-commerce is booming. 8 out of 10 French people bought online in 2020 (source Fefad/Médiamétrie), which represents 40 million people, an increase of 20.4% in one year. For example, the Fnac Darty group has seen its online sales increase by more than 55%. Many microenterprises have developed their own online sales site.
A DYNAMIC THAT CONTINUES
International roll-out: After France and Italy, Ami is currently being launched in Spain, Belgium and Portugal. Each time, a whole ecosystem is put in place to offer the same experience combining digital and dedicated partners. A new horizon opens today: Ami, that will keep its left-hand drive, is getting ready to cross the Channel in order to conquer the United Kingdom.
My Ami Cargo, the commercial version: Businesses, whose activities require short (on average less than 25 km per day) and frequent urban journeys, are subject, like private individuals, to traffic constraints in cities linked to the increase in traffic jams, tolls, low-emission zones, pedestrian zones and cycle paths, and parking difficulties. We observe that these shopkeepers, professionals, craftsmen, local authorities, local service companies and industrial sites that need to make deliveries or provide services are also turning to two- or three-wheeled modes of transport to get around urban centres.
Citroën has decided to create a commercial version of the Ami, My Ami Cargo, an alternative to the less protected two- and three-wheelers whose drivers are subject to the vagaries of the weather, with a useful volume of more than 400 litres and a modular storage area on the passenger side that can hold 140kg of goods and offers a mobile office function on the top. Protective, practical, easy to manoeuvre and park, rechargeable in only 3 hours, offering an attractive price combined with a reduced cost of use (energy consumption of less than 2€/100km, i.e. 4 times less expensive than that of a combustion vehicle and a maintenance cost reduced by 30%), My Ami Cargo, for which the orders have opened, has everything it takes to become the friend of the pros. A solution that appeals to a very wide range of people, from retailers to industrialists, from the self-employed to company fleets.
Ami and its users are an unlimited source of inspiration for Citroën. Thus, a new innovation was just born through the « My Ami Super Fan », operation implemented since this summer, so that prospects can get customers’ opinion in a most original way. It is a brand new test-drive lay-out enabling the driving of one of the 27 ambassadors’ Ami, who have already gone through the purchase square and who daily use the vehicle, and will be glad to share his experience with novices. Rendez-vous on citroen.fr/ami website!