AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/23 Report--

After Changan PSA joint venture company was sold by both shareholders, DS brand was able to continue production and sales in China by means of contract production. A year later, the DS brand launched a brand-new model.

On March 23, DS officially announced that its brand-new car DS9 was officially launched. The new car was built on EMP3 platform. Seven models (four fuel vehicles and three plug-in hybrid models) were launched. The official guidance price was 2499 - 399,900 yuan.

In fact, DS9 was released and pre-sold as early as August last year, but for some reason there was no news of its launch until today.

DS9 adopts the latest family design language in appearance, with woven mesh texture in hexagonal large mouth grille, headlights connected to front grille, and turn signals on both sides of front enclosure. From the side, the DS9 body adopts a slip-back coupe style design, with the waist line extending from the hood across the front and rear doors to the taillights. In terms of size, DS9 is positioned as a medium-sized sedan with a body length, width and height of 4933/1855/1468mm and a wheelbase of 2895 mm.

DS9 interior design is relatively simple, the center console is equipped with large size LCD center screen and full LCD instrument, with three-spoke multi-function steering wheel and electronic gear handle. In terms of configuration, the new car is equipped with L2 driving assistance system, including ACC adaptive cruise control, automatic parking, night vision mode, driver fatigue monitoring and other functions.

In terms of power, DS9 fuel version is equipped with 1.6T engine, maximum power of 215 horsepower, peak torque of 300N·m, matched with 9-speed manual self-contained gearbox. In addition to the 1.6T engine, the DS9 plug-in hybrid version is equipped with an 81.2kw electric motor with a maximum power of 250 hp and a WLTP range of about 50km.

From the point of view of product strength, DS9 does not lag behind BBA products of the same level, even has obvious advantages in materials and design, but DS brand influence is not enough to support the price of 300,000 yuan. Although DS brand is indeed a luxury brand from the perspective of brand development history, as far as the Chinese market is concerned, its brand awareness is very small, and even many consumers do not know the existence of this brand.

At present, the legal brands sold in China are Peugeot, Citroen and DS. The first two brands rely on Dongfeng Motor and are common in China, while DS, as a luxury brand under PSA Group, has a lower and lower presence in the domestic market.

At present, Chang 'an PSA is easy to own Baoneng Automobile, DS brand relies on Baoneng Automobile to realize production and sales, and the tail standard has also become Baoneng Automobile. However, Baoneng Automobile is not the "savior" of DS brand. After Baoneng Automobile acquired Guanzhi Automobile, the situation of Guanzhi Automobile did not substantially improve, and it is not easy for Baoneng Automobile to save DS with low brand influence and almost collapse of word-of-mouth sales system. In addition, Baoneng Automobile plans to launch high-end brands within this year, which means that the focus of Baoneng Automobile will be on the new brand, while DS brand can only achieve turnaround through its own efforts, but obviously this process will be very bumpy.

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