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On 25 November 1950, the company ACMA is founded in Paris: Piaggio is the majority shareholder. In the months that follow, managers and technicians arrive from Pontedera to set up Vespa manufacturing on site, which is launched in March 1951 in Fourchambault, a small town in the Nièvre region in the heart of France. In June 1954, the 100,000th Vespa produced in Fourchambault rolls off the production line; just eleven months later, the 150,000 mark is reached. In 1956, the number of ACMA workers, technicians, clerks and employees stands at nearly 2000, reaching a peak of 2800 the following year, some of whom live in a company village based on the model of the one in Pontedera.

In the 1950s, the French Ministry of Defence commissions ACMA to build the first Vespa for military purposes (the Vespa TAP), with 600 models produced between 1956 and 1959. As of 1957, Fouchambault is the manufacturing site for the Vespa 400 microcar, designed by Corradino d’Ascanio (whose son, Giorgio, works in Fourchambault).

As a result of a progressive decline in sales, ACMA closes its doors forever in December 1962: Piaggio goes back to exporting Vespas manufactured in Pontedera beyond the Alps.