The Citroen Peugeot group's premium brand - DS - has launched a new SUV on the Irish market with a choice of petrol and diesel engines.
It's still a new name for Irish buyers and the DS brand is confined to one Dublin dealership. It's a bit like the French answer to Toyota's branding strategy with Lexus, which operates its luxury brand independently. The new DS offering is called the DS 7 Crossback and is being offered with a choice of two petrol and two diesel engines.
It's a compact SUV and with the SUV segment now accounting for almost half of all sales in Ireland, DS is hoping to break into a lucrative area. The engines are a 130 horsepower 1.6 petrol and another with 180 horsepower. The same outputs are offered by the two diesel units, which are turbo-charged. All the engines feature in both Citroen's and Peugeot's line-up currently and have achieved quite a lot of recognition for good fuel economy.
What DS is hoping for, however, is that customers will be drawn to a more premium offering with extra touches like 18" wheels, an 8" infotainment screen, specific DS design touches on the bonnet, grille, and wings as standard. There is also a lane departure warning system, driver attention warning, rear parking sensors, LED front fog lights, an active safety handbrake, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The interior also features some different touches, with a leather steering wheel and gear knob and lumbar adjustment for the driver's seat.
The entry-level version starts at €36,000 for the 1.6 petrol and the diesel costs €38,300. As you move up the range (the top of the range Ultra Prestige is priced at €60,245) you get more equipment. Extras include full LED lighting, tinted windows, reversing camera, 19" wheels, front parking sensors, and a reversing camera, among others.
DS is based at Airside in Dublin.
