DS Automobiles
is a French
luxury
-
premium
marque created in 2009. Formerly part of
Automobiles Citroen S.A.
, DS has been a standalone brand ultimately owned by
PSA Group
, later
Stellantis
. The independent DS
marque
was created in 2014 from the former
DS
subbrand
and line of models of Citroen cars made since 2009, although it had been separated from Citroen in Asia since 2012.
[3]
[4]
[1]
[2]
DS Automobiles
|
Product type
| Luxury vehicles
|
---|
Owner
| Stellantis
(since 2021)
[1]
[2]
|
---|
Produced?by
| Stellantis
|
---|
Country
| France
|
---|
Introduced
| February?5, 2009
; 15 years ago
?(
2009-02-05
)
(as a
Citroen
brand)
June?1, 2014
; 10 years ago
?(
2014-06-01
)
(as an independent brand)
|
---|
Related brands
| |
---|
Markets
| Worldwide
|
---|
Previous owners
| Citroen
(2009?2015)
PSA Group
(2015?2021)
|
---|
Website
| dsautomobiles.com
|
---|
DS can be an abbreviation of
Different Spirit
or
Distinctive Series
, although it is also considered a nod to the classic executive car
Citroen DS
. The name is also a play on words, as in
French
it is pronounced like the word
deesse
, meaning "goddess".
The
PSA Group
originally consisted of three automobile brands,
Peugeot
,
Citroen
and the soon dropped
Talbot
, but none was considered a "premium" brand. Since 1976, PSA has experimented with differentiating the brands by price level, similar to
Chevrolet
/
Buick
or
Volkswagen
/
Audi
, but neither brand had the strength to justify
premium pricing
.
[5]
By launching the DS line, Groupe PSA decided to build on the design heritage of the original Citroen DS (1955?1975) designed by
Flaminio Bertoni
and
Andre Lefebvre
.
The DS line started with the
Citroen DS3
in the beginning of 2010, a small car based on the floorpan of the new C3. The DS3 is based on the concept of the
Citroen C3
Pluriel model and the
Citroen DS Inside
concept car, and customisable with various roof colours that can contrast with the body panels. It was named 2010 Car of the Year by
Top Gear Magazine
, awarded first supermini four times in a row by the
J.D. Power
Satisfaction Survey UK, and the second most efficient supermini (Citroen DS3 1.6 eHDi 115 Airdream: True MPG 63.0mpg) by
What Car?
behind the
Citroen C3
.
[6]
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In 2013, the Citroen DS3 was again the best-selling premium subcompact car with 40% of the market share in Europe. The DS series is deeply connected to Citroen, as the
DS4
,
[10]
launched in 2010, is based on the 2008
Citroen Hypnos
concept car and the
DS5
,
[11]
following in 2011, is based on the concept car of 2005, the
Citroen C-SportLounge
.
According to
PSA
CEO
Carlos Tavares
, DS would keep using the same platforms and dealerships as other PSA models, but would distinguish itself from Citroen cars by using "separate manufacturing and engineering standards".
[12]
The DS Automobiles rear badge is a new logo rather than the Citroen double chevron, and all have different styling compared to their equivalent Citroen car.
[13]
[14]
This logo has been designed by Korean designer Jin Joo.
[15]
Citroen produced several concept sports cars, with the fully working
Citroen Survolt
being badged as a DS.
[16]
A 2014 concept car, the
DS Divine
, develops the Survolt prototype as the future sport coupe of the DS range.
In China, DS vehicles have been sold in separate dealerships since 2014. DS models for sale in China were produced by the
Changan PSA
joint venture based in
Shenzhen
until May 2020, when the factory was acquired by the
Baoneng Group
. The DS 5LS and
DS 6WR
are only sold in China. With the facelift of the DS5 in 2015, the DS brand was also separated from the Citroen brand in Europe,
[17]
and standalone DS dealerships are planned worldwide.
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In the end of 2023, DS Automobiles announced it was withdrawing from the Chinese market.
[21]
"DS Store" redirects here. Not to be confused with
.DS_Store
.
This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
November 2022
)
|
The DS Store is the
dealership
network of DS Automobiles. It was introduced in China in 2014, and in Europe in 2015.
- Citroen C-SportLounge
[22]
(2008)
- Citroen Hypnos
(2008), occasionally shown with DS emblem
[23]
- Citroen DS Inside (2009)
- Citroen REVOLTe
(2009)
- Citroen DS High Rider (2010)
- Citroen Survolt
[24]
(2010)
- Citroen DS4 Racing (2012)
- Citroen Numero 9 (2012)
- DS Wild Rubis (2013)
- Citroen DS3 Cabrio Racing (2013)
- DS 5LS R (2014)
- Divine DS (2014)
- DS 3 & DS 3 Cabrio Ines de la Fressange Paris (2014)
- DS 4 Crossback (2015)
- DS E-Tense (2016)
- DS X E-Tense (2018)
- DS Code X (2019)
- DS Aero Sport Lounge (2020)
- DS E-Tense Performance
(2022)
Year
|
Worldwide sales
|
2012
|
129,000
|
2013
|
122,694
|
2014
|
118,472
|
2015
|
102,335
|
2016
|
85,981
|
2017
|
52,860
|
2018
|
53,265
|
DS Performance
is the competitions department of DS Automobiles, which it claims was established to accelerate the electrification transition of the brand. Although the department doesn't participate directly in motorsport by using partners instead, it assists with technological development of Formula E cars and related marketing activities.
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DS partnered with Sir Richard Branson's
Virgin Racing
team for the second season of the
FIA Formula E Championship
. The team competed under the title of
DS Virgin Racing
, and finished in third place in the 2015/16 season, and fourth in the 2016/17 season.
For the
2018?19 Formula E Championship
, DS moved to partner with
Techeetah
, ending its relationship with Virgin. The newly renamed DS Techeetah, using the DS E-Tense FE 19 powertrain, won both the drivers and teams championships with
Jean-Eric Vergne
becoming Formula E's first two-time drivers champion. This feat was repeated in the following season with
Antonio Felix da Costa
becoming driver's champion and DS Techeetah winning the teams title for
2019?20
.
The partnership with Techeetah ended at the end of the
2021?22 Formula E World Championship
, with DS then partnering with Penske Autosport to create
DS Penske
from the
2022?23 season
.
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