After making its debut in the SUV segment earlier this year, with the presentation of the DS 7 Crossback at the Geneva Motor Show, the French brand will continue to bet on what is the most popular segment of the market.
The goal is to form a range with six different proposals, and for that DS will launch three more models by 2020, in addition to the current four: DS 3, DS 4, DS 5 and DS 7 Crossback. You don't need to be an “ace” in mathematics to conclude that we are left with seven models altogether, that is, one of the current models will be discontinued. But which?
At the end of last year there were rumors that the brand was considering replacing the DS 4 and DS 5 in one model only – adopting the name of DS 5. However, the head of PSA in the UK, Stéphane Le Guével, suggested to Autocar that who could be in the pipeline to be discontinued is the DS 3.
Although it is currently the bestseller of the French brand - the model received a facelift a year and a half ago -, the trend in the segment of compact SUVs is for a drop in sales at the expense of the inevitable SUV segment:
Stéphane Le Guével, head of PSA UKThe compact market is moving towards smaller SUVs at the expense of three-door models. Therefore, in the future, there will be a different offer for the DS 3.
Coincidence or not, the next model to be launched by the brand will be precisely a compact SUV for the B segment. And according to Stéphane Le Guével, this model will have a distinctive look and not the appearance of a baby DS 7.
For now, everything indicates that the arrival on the market of this compact SUV will happen in 2019, and expectations are high: to reach triple the sales of the DS 7 Crossback.
And speaking of the DS 7 Crossback (in the pictures), it should arrive in Europe in 2018, and it is certain that the SUV will have a hybrid version from the spring of 2019, with 300 hp of power, 450 Nm of torque, traction at the four wheels and 60 km autonomy in 100% electric mode.