- DS Automobiles aims to connect with its history to differentiate from competitors.
- A concept inspired by the original Citroen DS could debut early next year and preview the brand’s new styling language.
- The company’s design director said “no more SUVs” as they don’t represent French luxury.
DS Automobiles recently celebrated their tenth anniversary, but they’ve been a brand without much purpose. That’s part of the reason why they were mentioned in the wake of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares’ threat to kill unprofitable brands from the lineup.
Despite these challenges, the French brand remains undeterred and is envisioning a brighter future. However, to achieve this, they are looking to their own past for inspiration.
More: DS Marks 10th Anniversary With Slammed SM Tribute Concept
In fact, they’re coming full circle as they’re reportedly working on a modern day successor to the Citroen DS. Speaking with Top Gear, DS design director Thierry Métroz said CEO Olivier François is “pushing us to create a greater link with our history, in terms of storytelling and design” as “history is what separates us from the new wave of Chinese cars,” which have “no emotional connection.”
Métroz went on to say they’re working on a new DS, which will apparently follow the same philosophy as the SM Tribute concept. The model will apparently showcase their future design language and the publication suggested it could debut at Retromobile next year as 2025 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Citroen DS.
While it will be interesting to see, it sounds like the design language will be more important than the car itself. In particular, Métroz said “What I would like is to have the link with the original DS but feasible on a different silhouette, and feasible on a different size of car, and for that to work on a complete lineup.” He went on to mention a “super low, elegant, [and] long silhouette” and a “design strategy feasible for a complete range of cars.”
It’s also interesting to note the focus on cars as Métroz said “no more SUVs” as there’s “no shortage of them in the group” and “an SUV is not the best expression for French luxury.” That decision alone deserves praise and the designer said their desire is to be the “Louis Vuitton of the automotive industry.”
