AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/11 Report--

DS, one of the luxury brands that have been neglected in China, introduced a new model in February, hoping to ease its brand's current embarrassment in the Chinese market. Although the model has not been put on the market so far, it is reported that the car has appeared in a domestic DS sales center a few days ago.

Although the declaration of the DS 9 model was exposed in September last year, according to previous sources, the car is expected to go on sale this year and will not be available until the second half of the year at the earliest. At present, the real car has appeared in a domestic DS sales center, which means that the new car has not been on the market for a long time.

From the exposure of the scene pictures, DS 9 continues the unique and artistic design of the French car, with a woven mesh texture in the family hexagonal grille, headlights connected to the front grille and turn lights on both sides. The design of "tear eyes" on both sides is similar to that of Peugeot 508 fangs. What is special is that in the center of the hood is a long strip of metal decoration, highlighting the exquisite design of the legal system.

With an overall size of nearly 5 meters, the length / width / height of the body is 4933mm/1855mm/1468mm, and the wheelbase is 2895mm, which can be regarded as a standard medium-sized car, which is very close to PSA's standard 508. this is also because DS 9 is based on the PSA Group EMP2 modular platform, which can be regarded as the same platform product of Peugeot 508.

However, the car is positioned not as a domestic joint venture brand, but as a more high-end luxury brand. According to the new DS CEO in a previous media interview revealed that "DS is out-and-out, like BMW Audi Mercedes-Benz high-end car brand, DS brand needs a large car like DS 9 support."

Yes, the DS 9 was positioned as a high-end model by PSA Group at the time of its launch. after all, the DS brand positioned it as a high-end brand when it entered the domestic market eight years ago, which belongs to a high-end brand under its parent brand, like Hyundai's Genisis, Toyota's Lexus, Honda's Acura and Nissan's Infiniti.

However, according to the current domestic DS brand in the domestic sale of five models, but most of the positioning of SUV models, for the car market only one compact car. Perhaps in PSA's view, the current mislayout of its market is the reason for its poor performance in China, so it will launch a more targeted model.

Although the DS 9 design is unique enough from the inside to the outside, especially the interior also has a unique high-end style design, with a large area of Alcantara material and brown interiors covered with leather. And some of the configured models are equipped with L2 driving assistance system, which can realize adaptive cruising, lane departure assistance and disguised assistance in 180km/h. At the same time, the new car is also equipped with driver fatigue monitoring, automatic parking assistance and night vision functions.

In terms of power, the DS 9 will be equipped with a plug-in hybrid system. The new car's power system is based on a 1.6T engine with a total power of 228hp, with a pure electric range of 40-50km under WLTP conditions and an eight-speed automatic transmission. In the future, DS 9 will also launch a high-performance version of 253hp and 365hp + all-wheel drive.

But for DS 9 or even DS brand, it seems that it is not enough to support the development of its brand in China, let alone to target the domestic luxury market, after all, its unique design, high positioning, and lack of brand premium and other disadvantages have proved its future development. If PSA still locates the DS 9 at the high end of the market, it is believed that its sales will be lower than that of the Peugeot 508L. After all, it will only cost a higher price for the luxury 508L, which does not bring more brand premium. Luxury brands without brand premium are doomed to survive in the Chinese market.

Due to poor sales and long-term losses, Changan Peugeot Citroen has basically been dissolved and the joint venture company has been sold to Baoneng Automobile to take over. Wang Chao, director of corporate communications for China and Southeast Asia of PSA Group, has revealed that after the change in the share structure of Changan Peugeot Citroen, the DS brand plans to continue to produce DS cars at its Shenzhen factory, while DS 9 will also become one of the models produced and exported to overseas markets. According to statistics, the four major French brands Citroen, Peugeot, Renault and DS sold only 7118 vehicles in the first quarter, down 83 per cent from 33985 in the same period last year.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat