The Citroën AX is a supermini

Supermini car

A supermini is a British term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as subcompact in North America....

 built by the French manufacturer Citroën

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

 from 1986 to 1998. The AX was launched at the 1986 Paris Motor Show to replace the Citroën Visa

Citroën Visa

The Citroën Visa is a supermini that was produced by the French car marque Citroën from 1978 to 1988.-Development History:The Citroën Prototype Y to replace the 2CV based Citroën Ami that dated back to 1960 in the early seventies, was originally developed in co-operation with Fiat...

 and Citroën LNA

Citroën LNA

The Citroën LN and Citroën LNA are supermini automobiles produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1976 and 1986....

.



Development of this model started in 1983, and was initially also going to form the basis of a sister model from Talbot

Talbot

Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...

 to replace the Samba

Talbot Samba

The Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France, and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it was the only Talbot not inherited from Chrysler Europe, engineered by PSA alone. It was also the...

; however, the falling popularity of the Talbot brand had led to Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

 deciding to axe it by the time the Citroën AX was launched, and so the Talbot version never made it into production.

The car was available from its launch on 2 October 1986 as a three-door hatchback

Hatchback

A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...

 with 1.0, 1.1 and 1.4-litre TU

PSA TU engine

The PSA TU engine is a family of small four-cylinder engines used in the Peugeot and Citroën range of cars. It was introduced in 1986 with the Citroën AX, replacing the X family, although it shared many components with its predecessor...

-series belt driven OHC engines.