Big new plan for DS: beat the Germans and join the car market’s premium elite

DS split from Citroen in 2014 and has been trying to make headway in the premium car market ever since. A decade ago, success in this hard-fought sector meant beating the Germans, a goal many an upmarket car from France (not to mention the UK, Italy, Sweden, Japan and Korea) had comprehensively failed to achieve down the years. Today, things are a little different and DS has a new grand plan for a fresh, electrically driven appeal to Europe’s badge snob car buyers. 

Audi, BMW and Mercedes had the European premium car market all but wrapped up for a very long time, but things have changed. The move to electric cars levelled the playing field to an extent and it’s safe to say none of those German giants has managed to navigate the EV transition as effectively as they’d have liked. It’s left the door to the premium car market ajar for the likes of Tesla, Polestar and others at a time when the arrival of new, low-cost competition from China is making the mainstream an increasingly treacherous place to operate.

DS, part of the sprawling Stellantis stable of brands along with Citroen, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Vauxhall, Jeep and others, probably has its best chance ever of beating the Germans with a high-class product and a convincing brand proposition. The problem is that it’s also got to persuade customers to choose its cars over those from all the other brands being driven in a more premium direction by the fear of having to compete with the Chinese on price.  

So what is going to set DS apart from the gathering crowd in this increasingly tumultuous premium car space? We’ve just been given a clear glimpse at the brand’s immediate future in the shape of the new DS No8. This is an electric coupé-SUV that will serve as a flagship for the DS range. It introduces a new naming strategy, a new design direction and some class-leading EV tech. It’s a statement of intent for DS. 

For Thierry Métroz, Senior Vice President of DS Design, the areas the DS brand needs to emphasise in the conversation with customers are clear. He explained: “Our strength over the years is where we are working, because we are Parisian. The original DS was designed in Paris, the 15th District of Paris, and built in the Quai de Javel. It all happened in Paris.

“It's a very strong advantage, the link with Paris and its other luxury brands. Our ambition for DS is to be the Louis Vuitton of the automotive industry. It’s a dream, because we can't decide to be a luxury brand. It takes maybe 10 years, 20 years, 40 years, maybe never, we are working to make it possible.”

That link DS is trying to foster to French high fashion brands can also be spotted in the new DS No8 naming strategy that will roll out to the DS No7 and DS No3 in the coming years. There’s some uncertainty over what Chanel would say to any new DS No5 model, but the delicate whiff of haute couture is exactly what DS is aiming to spread.

Internal focus

The cars, of course, need to deliver on all this brand building, and Métroz is in no doubt where DS can make gains. He continued: “The advantage, I think, for DS, is the quality of the interiors. The interior atmosphere, the quality of the lighting, the quality of the material, all the finishes [...], the prestige and everything. I think it’s our main differentiation with the German brands.”

Thomas Bouveret, Head of Interior Design at DS, picks up the thread here: “The main difference from all the other premium cars is to put the emphasis on the material and maybe to design the interior a little bit differently. We try to have another approach, something a little bit less conservative and to bring some kind of new touches to the interior, but taking into account the ergonomic[s] and also the usability.”

The DS No8 cabin does indeed take a different approach on material choices than we’re used to seeing in modern cars at the £45,000 to £75,000 price point the new car is expected to occupy. Leather, aluminium and wood finishes cover the majority of the surfaces you interact with, and the entry-level cars don’t feel noticeably stripped back compared to those higher in the range. 

DS has even looked at offering bespoke trim packages to customers in the manner of really high-end luxury brands such as Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Many of the trim pieces inside the car can unclip and be swapped for different finishes to change the look and, were the option ever to be made available, this could theoretically be done in dealerships, allowing existing owners to call in and give their car’s cabin a refresh. 

To showcase what’s possible, DS will follow up the launch of the DS No8 in 2025 with a limited-edition model sporting a special interior trim selection based around unique machined aluminium finishes. And DS doesn’t plan to sit back and admire the design it’s created for the No8, because the plan is for ongoing development.

Explained Bouveret: “This is not just the new way of the interior of DS; this is for one, two, maximum three cars… and then after we are working on something different for the future.” 

We’ll know more about this future later in 2025, when DS reveals a new vehicle interior concept with a focus on the integration of new technology. And the focus going forward seems to be very much on that technological and design progression inside the cars, if not outside.

Bouveret continued: “Even if we make some link with the past, I will keep the idea to add some additional points that are new, fresh and unexpected. The link with the past is mainly for the exterior; I would say on the interior, we want to push again to go a little bit further.”

Price and positioning

DS wants to be premium but Thierry Métroz says that doesn’t have to mean pushing prices up. “It’s not a question of price. The price is important [...] but the most important for us is to have, always, this sense of refinement – the elegance, the refinement, the quality of the CMF [colour, material and finishing].” 

Perhaps in recognition of the difficulty there may be in convincing buyers to engage with DS products if they’re on an equal value footing with more established premium brands, DS is aiming to be aggressive right across the range, offering similar standards of design, quality and comfort whatever the model or variant. 

Said Métroz: “Another point that’s very important for DS… we have the same design philosophy, if it is an ICE car or BEV car. The same design DNA, for all the cars. Whatever the engine.” And the same is true across trim levels in the DS No8 range with the entry models not noticeably inferior in terms of design features and material choices to the cars at the top of the range. 

DS will also need to be carefully positioned within the mass of brands in the Stellantis group. It forms part of the ‘premium cluster’ with Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Maserati sits above in the luxury segment, while below Peugeot is seen as mainstream, and Citroen is lower mainstream. In that premium segment, Alfa Romeo takes a sportier approach, with DS focusing on comfort and luxury. 

Alfa Romeo is also in the US market – alongside Stellantis’ US brands Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler and Ram. There are no plans for DS to follow, even though that could change after the departure of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. Métroz said: “No, it’s not planned. I would like to go into the US, but I’m not enough.

“Also, we don’t need another brand in the US market but it could change. Maybe the new CEO says: ‘Okay, you can go to the US’ because [...] Maybe we have the potential to develop the brand in the US because we have the Parisian luxury image. It could be good.”

Electric uncertainty

While the brand positioning might be clearly defined, like many of its competitors, DS is having a crisis of confidence around the switch to electric cars. Métroz told Auto Express: “I remember three or four years ago, Stellantis said ‘only BEV for all the brands’. Now we don’t know. We have BEV, but we are looking to introduce mild hybrid for the next generation of DS.”

Could a mild hybrid petrol engine be offered on the currently all-electric DS No8? “Not on 8. No, but it’s feasible. If we want, we can do it very quickly, without much expense, because of the STLA M platform.” 

So the DS switch to EV could be slower than first indicated and we can expect the next models in the product plan after No8 to feature mild hybrid power as well as electric options. That plan should see a new DS No7 SUV revealed towards the end of 2025 and then a DS No3 to replace the existing DS 3. The DS Tribute concept revealed in 2024 previewed a retro-styled luxury saloon evoking the sleek Citroen SM, but any flagship production car along those lines is still some way off. For the foreseeable future, the DS No8 will top the range and spearhead the brand’s renewed tilt at Europe’s premium car market. 

Click here for our list of the best executive cars...