The first large luxury sedan from DS will have three PHEV and a single petrol engine option, though local variants have not yet been confirmed 

SINGAPORE

Photos: DS Europe

French luxury marque DS has announced that its new large luxury sedan, the DS 9, will be a plug-in hybrid designed to comply with future emissions regulations.

That’s important because the LTA has just announced lower road tax for hybrids, and plug-in hybrids are included.

The DS brand was originally a sub-brand of Citroën when it made its first appearance on the DS 3 compact hatchback in 2010, but has continued to evolve into a genuine premium brand. The new DS 9 looks set to raise the carmaker’s game once again. 

Measuring 4.93 metres in length, the DS 9 is the first large sedan from the brand and about the same length as a BMW 5 Series sedan. It is built on the French carmaker’s EMP2 platform. Known as the Efficient Modular Platform 2, the chassis stretches out the car’s wheelbase to a lengthy 2.9-metres for plenty of interior space. 

As the range-topper of the DS brand, the car is set to be packed with the best that DS has to offer, with interior lighting themes that can be personalised and a steering wheel that is wrapped in Art Rubis leather. 

Crystal shaped touch-sensitive control panels, a14-speaker Focal Electra sound system developed specially for the DS 9 and a rotating B.R.M timepiece on top of the dashboard are some of the highlights that you will find in the cabin. 

The car can also be equipped with Active Scan suspension that uses cameras to scan the road ahead and adjusts the damping to suit the conditions, plus adaptive cruise control.

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The DS 9 will initially be offered with the new E-TENSE plug-in hybrid powertrain when it goes into production later this year. It combines a 225hp turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor that draws power from an 11.9kWh battery.

The electric motor has a power output of 110hp and torque rating of 320Nm. DS claims that that car can drive on electric power alone for up to 50km, at speeds of up to 135km/h. 

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Besides the usual hybrid drive’s energy recovery system that recharges the battery whenever the car is braking or decelerating, a 7.4kW onboard charger allows the electric motor to be recharged from an electric charging point. DS claims that a full charge can be achieved in just 90 minutes. 

There will be three petrol-electric engine variants on offer. Besides the initial 225hp turbo engine, the car will also be available with a 250hp petrol engine paired with increased electric range capability and a top-flight 360hp version with intelligent all-wheel drive. 

A non-hybrid, 225hp turbo petrol engined version will also be available. All of the variants will come with eight-speed automatic transmissions. 

While DS has not revealed the actual engine capacities of the petrol powerplants in the new DS 9, we think that the 225hp and 250hp engines will be updated versions of the versatile PSA Prince engine. Co-developed by Groupe PSA, which owns Peugeot and Citroën, and the BMW Group, the compact 1.6-litre turbo engine is capable of producing more than 250hp in various configurations.

Local DS distributor Cycle & Carriage, who also manage the Citroën brand in Singapore, has confirmed that the car is expected to arrive in Singapore sometime in June 2020, though the exact engine variants that will be available here will only be known at a later date.

A classy French alternative to the usual continental luxury sedans like the BMW 530e, the DS 9 may be a potential seller if priced at the right end of the $200,000 range.