Words by Marcus Boothby
If you’re not too familiar with the DS brand, it’s basically a collection of poshened up PSA products in attempt to combat the more established rivals. DS was formed as PSA’s luxury brand in 2015 (2012 in China) and has seen some remarkable progress since launch. The DS3 has sold like hotcakes and their crossover models are genuinely interesting. Now, they’re tackling the likes of the BMW 5-Series with the all-new DS9.
The DS9 is based loosely on the Peugeot 508 L, and is built in Shenzhen, China, where most DS9 sales will probably be. Fear not though, the DS9 will becoming to Europe which makes us very excited. The DS9 adds an interesting addition to the midsize luxury car class where it’ll be going up against established rivals from Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
So what does the DS9 offer compared to its rivals? Well other than daring looks inside and out, the DS9 offers space, comfort and power. Space wise, the DS9 is just under 5 metres long which may seem big but thanks to its front wheel drive (or all wheel drive) base, it’ll have lots of space on the inside for passengers. Sure, it won’t be the most dynamic car in its class but the DS9 is more about comfort and luxury rather than setting the best lap times. Thanks to its space saving design and long wheelbase, the DS9 should offer lots of legroom and headroom for both front and back passengers, along with an amble sized boot.
Power wise, the DS9 will be available with exclusively petrol and hybrid powertrains which means no diesels here. All DS9’s will feature a 1.6 petrol engine and three will feature plug-in hybrid capabilities. So what kind of power are we looking at here? The basic DS9 will be sold with the 1.6 petrol which produces 222bhp, and it’ll have the option of a hybrid system which will bring power up to 247bhp. There’s another hybrid model that offers 222bhp but it’ll use a less powerful version of the 1.6 petrol. The range topping model is an all wheel drive hybrid producing 355bhp.
The styling of the DS9 is similar to what we’ve seen previously on the DS7 Crossback but more evolved. It’s typically French but one quirk we like the most is the placement of the rear indicator. Unlike most cars where they have the indicator built into the rear light assembly, the DS9 has an indicator at the top two corners of the rear window which mimics the original DS.
Like the exterior, the interior of the DS9 is an evolution of what we’ve seen on the DS7 Crossback. It’s very flamboyant with a huge infotainment screen taking centre position, while there is a clock mounted just above it. The interior looks stunning, especially in the red as seen in the press photos.
We’re confident that most sales will be in China where the DS brand is very popular. Given the styling, size and performance of the DS9, expect prices to start at about £30,000 if it makes its way to RHD markets where it’ll go up against the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and the likes. It’ll be a tough sell to most but we reckon the DS9 will find buyers in the UK.