DS will reveal the electric DS3 Crossback compact SUV, a rival to the Audi Q2, at the Paris motor show this October ahead of its launch in 2019.
Stéphane Le Guével, UK boss of the PSA Group, confirmed to Autocar last year the arrival of the B-segment SUV as the next model in DS’s brand offensive, which will include four SUVs.
Further details on the compacy SUV habe now been revealed ahead of its launch. The EV variant of the new car, which will run alongside more traditional powertrains, will be available from launch and will offer a range of more than 124 miles on each charge. The urban-focused car is likely to have a 50kW battery pack.
Built on the PSA’s Compact Modular Platform, the EV and its conventionally powered sibling will come as the second of six new models released over six consecutive years, the first of which was the recently introduced DS 7 Crossback.
Le Guével told Autocar last year that there would be four SUVs in total by 2021. Arnaud Lecler, the firm’s then-UK development boss who has since moved to head Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in the UK, added that one of those SUVs would be a standalone hybrid.
The new baby SUV could also indirectly replace the current DS 3 supermini. Le Guével said last year: “The [small car] market is going towards small SUVs rather than three-doors. So there will be a different offering [than the 3].” Leclerc added that such a move would “make sense”.
Talking about the design of the baby SUV, Le Guével said that it would not look like a smaller version of the 7 Crossback, instead having its own distinct look.
When it goes in sale in 2019, the model is expected to take three times as many sales as the 7 Crossback, Leclerc said.
DS product boss Eric Apode told Autocar that “DS has to lead [the electric] innovation” within the PSA Group. “This is also because of pricing. It [electric technology] has to start with premium brands because the prices will be high,” he said. “Then, as the pricing decreases, it can go to the other brands.”
The 7 Crossback will become the first alternatively fuelled offering from the brand when a plug-in petrol hybrid arrives in the coming months. It will leave the following smaller SUV to become the first DS to offer an electric variant.
Le Guével confirmed that DS’s larger models, such as the 7 Crossback, will have plug-in hybrid variants, while smaller models such as the Q2-rivalling upcoming SUV will be electric. This tallies with PSA’s broader electrification strategy; for example, the Peugeot 3008 will be offered as a hybrid, while the 208 will have an electric option.
Additional reporting by Simon Davis and Doug Revolta
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