2018 DS 7 Crossback

DS will reveal all-electric SUV next year to rival the Audi Q2

Following the reveal of the DS 7 Crossback this year, there will be three more SUVs from the brand; a baby SUV is next

DS will reveal its second SUV next year, which will rival the Audi Q2 and have an all-electric variant from the start of sales in 2019.

UK boss of PSA, the parent company for DS, Citroen and Peugeot, Stéphane Le Guével confirmed the arrival of the B-Segment SUV as the next model in DS's brand offensive following the reveal of the DS 7 Crossback SUV earlier this year.

Ultimately, there will be four SUVs within a six-model like-up, said Le Guével.

The company has previously stated it will launch a model a year for the next four years. This year, it is the DS 7 Crossback while next year will be this smaller SUV.

Of the remaining two models due by 2021, one will be a standalone hybrid model, with no traditional diesel or petrol engines, according to DS UK development boss Arnaud Leclerc.

The baby SUV could also indirectly replace the current DS3 supermini. Le Huével said: “The [small car] market is going toward small SUVs rather than three doors. So there will be a different offering [than the DS3]." Leclerc added that such a move would "make sense".

Talking about the design of the baby SUV, Le Guével said it would not look like a smaller version of the DS 7 Crossback and instead would have its own distinct look.

When it goes in sale in 2019, it is expected to have three times the sales of the DS 7 Crossback, according to Leclerc.

The DS 7 Crossback will be the first alternatively fuelled offering from the brand, with a plug-in petrol hybrid due shortly after launch. The new SUV will be the first DS to offer an all-electric model.

Le Guével confirmed that larger models, such as the DS 7, will have plug-in hybrids, while smaller models such as the Q2 rivalling upcoming SUV, will have all-electric. This tallies with PSA's broader electrification strategy. For example, the Peugeot 3008 will have a hybrid while the smaller 208 will have an all-electric option.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ds-will-reveal-all-electric-suv-next-year-rival-audi-q2
 
PSA pushes for autonomous future with AI tech firm partnership

French group is working with US company AImotive; it plans to launch a fully autonomous car in 2025

The PSA Group is partnering with artificial intelligence tech firm AImotive to produce its first fully autonomous car - which is scheduled to land in 2025 with Level 4 autonomy.

PSA confirmed that this ‘mind off’ autonomous model, which will be able to take control of all functions on motorways, will arrive after semi-autonomous systems are offered on the DS 7 Crossback next year.

A deal with AImotive has already led to public road tests on motorways with a modified Citroën C4 Picasso. The car was used to develop AI-based algorithms, which will now be used in further test cars to enable autonomous driving at speeds of up to 81mph.

The first PSA car with a less advanced ‘hands-off’ Level 2 autonomous system will be the DS 7 Crossback SUV, which is due for launch early in 2018. The Citroën C5 Aircross will follow suit in the second half of 2018 after launching in China at the end of this year.

Equipped with a Level 2 system called Connected Pilot, the 7 Crossback will be capable of maintaining lane and positioning itself to the left or right of the lane to allow cycles or motorcycles to pass. It will also be equipped with self-parking without any intervention by the driver, initiated by pressing a button on the centre console. This is in addition to a suite of the usual advanced driver assistance systems.

PSA will phase in Level 3 ‘eyes-off’ autonomous cars from 2020, with two systems called Traffic Jam Chauffeur and Highway Chauffeur. PSA has a fleet of 12 prototypes, most of which are Level 3 Citroën C4 Picassos and Peugeot 3008 GTs with automatic transmissions.

PSA is the first company licensed to drive autonomous cars on French roads, provided they have special registration plates to identify them. The group plans to phase in fully autonomous Level 4 ‘mind-off’ cars from 2025, with Level 5, completely driverless vehicles beyond 2030.

The Peugeot 3008 GT Autocar sampled from the passenger seat was equipped with five cameras, five lidar sensors, four short-range radar sensors and three long-range radar sensors, giving 360deg coverage around the car. The 3008 was able to cope with busy motorway traffic, overtaking and moving back into lane, remaining behind other vehicles and braking to maintain distances even when traffic came to a halt.

In production, cars will only allow hands-free autonomous driving on designated sections of roads free of pedestrians and cyclists, which it identifies through its embedded mapping system. The car hands back control to the driver at the end of the motorway, warning them with audio and visual prompts and braking if they don’t respond within 10 seconds.

PSA's autonomous car programme is being launched under the banner of Autonomous Vehicles For All. The company plans to eventually roll out autonomous features on all cars across its three brands starting with the premium models that are based on the larger EMP2 platform, such as the 7 Crossback. Eventually, the technology will filter down to smaller cars on the new CMP platform due next year. Trials began in March 2017 with non-expert drivers, to gauge the reaction of customers to the technology.

DS’s timing is on par with rivals such as Audi, whose A8 flagship saloon, due to be revealed next month, will feature hands-off driving capability. Audi is also working with tech company Nvidia to bring a fully autonomous car to market in 2020.

PSA says the the legal framework in Europe still needs to evolve to support fully autonomous cars. Today, the Vienna Convention supports Level 1 and 2 cars, but Levels 3, 4 and 5 will require changes to the law to be allowed on the road.

Legal and insurance liability is also under scrutiny. Under the current framework, drivers are responsible in the event of an accident, even if the car is in a hands-off or eyes-off autonomous mode at the time.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/psa-pushes-autonomous-future-ai-tech-firm-partnership
 
2017 DS 7 Crossback priced from £28,050

The 7 Crossback SUV advances DS’s upmarket push with new technology and a premium design. A PHEV comes later

The DS 7 Crossback, the French brand's first European-market SUV, is available to order now, priced from £28,050 for entry-level Elegance models.

Prices rise to £43,535 for the highest-powered diesel model in range-topping Ultra Prestige trim. However, the most expensive model, at around £50,000, will become the four-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid variant when it hits the road in 2019. This will be badged E-Tense, after DS’s electric supercar concept.

Four trims are available: Elegance, Performance Line, Prestige and Ultra Prestige. the entry-level trim gets rear parking sensors, lane departure warning and leather interior trim. Higher ones get 19in wheels, a reversing camera and all-round parking sensors, as well as wireless smartphone charging, electric seats and ambient lighting. The range-topping Ultra Prestige trim gets a full leather interior, adaptive cruise control with lane keeping assist, keyless entry and start, a 360deg camera and parking assistant, 20in alloys and a panoramic sunroof.

The car was launched priced from £42,650 in La Première edition and was previewed with a special Presidential version used by new French president Emmanuel Macron.

The La Première's extended list of features includes 20in alloy wheels, a 12.0in instrument display, a 12.0in infotainment touchscreen and dark red nappa leather upholstery. It comes in just three colours: Cumulus Grey metallic, Pearl White or Perla Nera Black.

La Première cars get DS's latest driver assist systems including lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and adaptive headlights.

DS's active suspension scanning system is also fitted as standard; it uses a high-mounted camera near the top of the car's windscreen to ‘read’ the surface of the road as it approaches, pre-setting the stiffness of the electronically variable dampers (which will be also be standard on other high-trim versions) to prepare for larger bumps and compressions as they arrive.

DS claims that the Active Scan system will be a segment first, although Mercedes-Benz already offers a similar Magic Body Control system on its pricier models.

The most potent petrol and diesel engines are offered with the La Première trim. Both are turbocharged 1.6-litres, offering 221bhp and 178bhp respectively. They come mated to a new eight-speed automatic transmission.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/ds-7-crossback-suv-set-rival-audi-q5

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DS 7 Crossback 2018 review

Should I buy one?

It’s been a very busy year for the new cars like this, and our first impression is that there are probably now several more consistently classy, premium-worthy small SUVs among the 2017 crop than this, as well as more attractively priced leftfield alternatives to the obvious German picks.

The 7 Crossback’s fresh take on modern metropolitan SUV luxury is appealing in its way, but its scope of originality is disappointingly limited, and it remains to be seen how many customers will be willing to stump up Range Rover Evoque-level cash in return for it.

You sense the DS brand’s search for its lasting identity and proper place in the modern car market won’t end here.

DS7 Crossback BlueHDI 180 auto

Where Paris, France On sale March 2018 Price from £36,355 Engine 4cyls inline, 1997cc, turbodiesel Power 178bhp at 3750rpm Torque 295lb ft at 2000rpm Gearbox 8-spd automatic Kerbweight 1535kg Top speed 134mph 0-62mph 9.9sec Fuel economy 57.6mpg CO2 rating 128g/km Rivals BMW X1 20d, Jaguar E-Pace D180

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ds/7-crossback/first-drives/ds-7-crossback-2018-review

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DS 7 Crossback BlueHDi 180 Performance Line 2018 review

Should I buy one?

In some ways, DS has an impossible task. Of such a storied marque we demand innovation and originality, and yet deviating too far from the norm in this segment must seem outrageously foolhardy to the brand’s product planners. Remember, though, that the Range Rover Evoque and more recently the Volvo XC40 have each pulled off the same-but-different trick – and done it well.

To its detriment, the French car is very much priced to rival those cars. In the specification you’d want – with the automatic gearbox and in Performance Line, which, unlike Elegance, includes active suspension, adaptive headlights, digital instruments and the 12.3in touchscreen – the 7 Crossback will cost you at least £35,000.

If it was especially rewarding to drive, that might not seem such a large sum, especially taken alongside the practicality on offer and an undoubtedly plush interior. As it stands, however, the 7 Crossback is difficult to recommend in a fiercely competitive class.

Price £36,335; Engine 1997cc, 4 cyls, turbo, diesel; Power 295bhp @ 3750rpm; Torque 221lb ft @ 2000rpm; Gearbox 8-spd automatic; Kerb weight 1535kg; Top speed 134mph; 0-62mph 9.4 seconds; Economy 57.6mpg; CO2 128g/km; Rivals Audi Q3, Jaguar E-Pace, BMW X2

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-revie...back-bluehdi-180-performance-line-2018-review

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It looks like that touchscreen was plonked down as an after thought
 
In a few year's time we'll remember this as the age of the "we're too lazy to integrate our touchscreens into the dash so we'll just stick them on top" interiors.
 
Absolutely love the outside.

Not so much the inside unfortunately, too square, too black.
 
Pity we not getting any of the new DS or Citroën cars. Going to miss my DS5 when it eventually is time to sell. Currently still going strong on 135k km on the clock.
 
Carlos Tavares: DS sales drop is of no concern to long-term strategy

PSA boss tells Autocar that DS is just two years into a 30-year plan

DS’s future strategy will not change despite dramatic sales declines around the world in 2017, according to PSA Group boss Carlos Tavares.

Last year, DS — the French firm’s answer to the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz — recorded a fall in sales in every region bar one, resulting in an overall 38.5% decrease from 85,981 cars in 2016 to 52,860 in 2017.

The declines were greatest in the China and south-east Asia region, where sales fell 63.1%. Meanwhile, sales dropped 45.2% in the India and Pacific, 34.1% in Europe, 20.8% in Eurasia and 9.6% in the Middle East and Africa.

Only Latin America grew in sales, by 21.6%, but that market accounted for just 1304 unit sales.

However, Tavares insisted that the declines were largely a result of the decision by PSA — which is made up of Citroën, DS, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall — to cut back dramatically on discounting and bulk sales as it attempts to strengthen DS's residual values and build a more premium brand image.

“This is a 30-year project, and we still have 28 of those years left in which to achieve our goals,” he said. “Creating an automotive brand built around the concept of French luxury will take time and requires consistency of direction that we are still building.

“2017 was about getting our pricing power to the right place; putting the foundations in for the residual values that help define a premium brand. We have the pricing power going where we want it now and the new product to support the strategy is coming.”

Tavares highlighted the initial sales popularity of the new 7 Crossback as an example of the progress DS is making.

He continued: “Last year, the average age of the cars we were selling was between five and six years. With the DS 7, we are starting a new life. It is the first DS car engineering from scratch to be a premium car; it features great technology, interior quality, external design and more.

“The quality of the product sells the car. Deliveries of DS 7 are exactly what we expected; nearly 4000 cars in the first few weeks. Our retailers and sales people are excited, and this is just the starting point.

“Yes, last year was disappointing in sales terms, but it has put us in a better place to deliver the long-term strategy. We are at the start of a journey and we will launch a new model every year to build the brand. With consistency will come success.”

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/...s-ds-sales-drop-no-concern-long-term-strategy
 
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