The new DS No.7 finally makes good on the brand’s promise of Gallic luxury and charm

To the uninitiated, DS is an automotive outlier, selling a relatively low number of genuinely eccentric cars. Within the Stellantis portfolio DS sits towards the upper end of the market, below Maserati in the luxury and performance stakes but without the heritage and image. Like Maserati, it purports to offer a luxurious, individual experience but conveys a lot more eccentricity than it perhaps realises.

Wallpaper* recently travelled to Nice to experience the company’s newest model, the DS No.7. A replacement for the brand’s best-selling DS 7 Crossback, it joins the idiosyncratic flagship DS No.8. There’s also the elegant No.4 hatchback and the DS 3, the current iteration of the car that spawned the entire sub-brand back in 2009 when it debuted as the Citroën DS3.

Any actual connection to the Fifties ‘goddess’ is tenuous at best. With so many other brands looking to get the old band back together to roll out a show of their greatest hits, DS is to be congratulated on eschewing overt retro symbolism and actually setting out to do something different.

If you squint, you get a sense of the Citroën DS’s forward-focused massing – the car had a wider track at the front than at the back – in the way the No.7 appears to taper towards the rear. But ultimately, the ‘DS’ name is about evoking the past, not slavishly recreating it, whilst adding in a dose of contemporary French luxury.

The latter is expressed through an unconventional approach to interior elements, material choice and overall cabin ambience. It’s a mechanically crafted aesthetic that draws in part on French Art Deco style and the country’s luxury fashion brands. DS is a premium brand, rather than a luxury one, sitting a few notches above its Citroën siblings in the marketplace.

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Accoutrements include a 14-speaker audio system by French firm Focal, pearl-stitched Nappa leather, electric rear view mirror, plush leather seats, laser-etched metalwork inside and angular forms outside. The aluminium dash and door trim bear Guilloché patterns, usually seen in high-end watchmaking, to create an additional visual texture.

Outside, vertical-horizontal LED running lights give the car a distinctive visual signature, matched with a sharply chamfered rear end. The production car is an evolution of the Aero Sport Lounge Concept created in 2020 (which would have been shown at the Geneva Motor Show had it not been cancelled by Covid).

At 4.66m long it has an extra 7cm over its predecessor, although the glazed roof and rear windows are both substantially bigger, making the interior much brighter. It’s not pretty, but that’s not really what DS is aiming for. The big Citroëns of old weren’t pretty cars either, but they did have class and presence, setting them apart from other more conventional offerings.

As the company reminds us, 22% of the European auto market is now taken up by premium sales, and it’s this pie that DS wants a part of. The old DS7 sold around 200,000 units in nine years, a not insignificant number, but small beer in comparison to a BMW X3, which sells rather more than that each year. Still, President Macron loved his.

The DS No.7 is a good deal better looking that the DS7, with a more chiselled profile and a much better interior. DS has cannily – or confusingly – pitched the car right in between the C and D segments in the SUV market so it can describe the car as ‘D-sized luxury at a C-sized price’.

The waters are muddied still further by the existence of no less than 11 variants, a testament to the innate flexibility of the platform but also something of a bet hedge by DS to cover everything from plug-in hybrids to FWD and AWD electric versions.

On the road, the latter trumps the PHEV every time, both in terms of power and refinement. The PHEV is not especially sporty, with an intrusive but uninspiring engine noise, but it does offer an impressive range of up to 1,040km (646 miles).

The Long Range BEV model doesn’t do badly either, with a WLTP rating of 740km (459 miles), or 480km at highway speeds (298 miles). Charging speed is limited to 160W, well down on the new standards. Only the BMW iX3 (805km) and Volvo EX60 (810km) promise to go further.

The high driving position, nicely weighted steering position and welcome poke of the BEV model make for an easy, unflustered drive, with suspension that’s adept at soaking up road imperfections (even if not’s the hydro-pneumatic ‘magic carpet’ ride of the original DS).

There is Gallic charm and class to be found here, resulting in a likeable, accomplished car that wears its individuality on its sleeve. We’re less keen on the boldly stated ‘DS Automobiles’ writ in chrome across the rear. It’s understandable – even manufacturers like Aston Martin and Porsche have reverted to spelling out their names to help hammer home brand recognition in newer markets. Ironically, these days strategy is almost inverted – cars wear prominent badges so that the unaware don’t mistake them for brand new and unfamiliar imported car.

The DS No.7 is an elegant outlier, cannily assembled to convey a quirky yet opulent richness and even more carefully priced to keep these qualities aligned with the competition.

For too long, the DS brand was writing stylistic cheques it couldn’t cash, promising an alternative take on mass-market luxury without managing to follow through on the aesthetics. These cars will always be a bold choice, but with the No.7, DS style finally matches the hype.

DS No.7 starts at £38,920 for the Hybrid Pallas model, rising to £66,690 for the E-Tense AWD Long Range La Première edition, DSAutomobiles.co.uk, @DSAutomobiles