DS 9 revealed in leaked photos

If you were wondering what the flagship of the DS line will look like but didn’t want to wait until December’s Guangzhou motor show, leaked photographs published by Carscoops should satisfy your curiosity.

Though it may share its name with a 24th century space station in the Alpha Quadrant, the DS 9 looks very much like a car from 2019. The photos, taken under the unflattering lights of a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology building, reveal the DS 9 to be a handsome (if understated) car with a three-box silhouette.

It shares PSA’s EMP2 modular architecture with the Peugeot 508 liftback and wagon, among myriad other PSA products.

Measuring 4933mm long and with a wheelbase of 2895mm, it’s even longer than the stretched 508L sedan sold in China. That makes it almost exactly as long as a BMW 5 Series, albeit with a wheelbase 80mm shorter.

The big sedan DS 9 certainly looks like a DS, bearing a strong resemblance to models like the DS 3 Crossback and DS 7 Crossback.

The DS 9 uses the brand’s trademark front-end with chrome trim connecting the headlights to the grille and fog lights, as well as slim taillights linked with chrome trim.

PSA previewed a DS 9 concept all the way back in 2012, claiming it was being put into production soon. A production model hasn't eventuated and DS sales have struggled in China, a market that still embraces sedans.

Carscoops reports the DS 9 may also be introduced to the European market, unlike other products produced by PSA’s Chinese subsidiaries, Changan PSA and Dongfeng PSA.

The DS 9 will be introduced with two powertrains shared with the Peugeot 508: a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with 149kW and a 1.6-litre plug-in hybrid four-cylinder.

The hybrid has an overall power rating of 165kW in the Peugeot 508 Hybrid not sold here. It consists of a 1.6-litre petrol engine producing 132kW and an 80kW electric motor, and has an electric range of up to 40km under WLTP testing.

PSA’s premium brand has two very different ranges. In China, they sell the C-segment 4S hatch and 5LS sedan and the DS 6 crossover. In Europe, they sell the DS 3 and DS 4 previously sold here plus the new DS 3 Crossback. Only the DS 5 and DS 7 Crossback are sold in both markets. As for Australia, we haven’t received any DS-branded cars since the brand’s discontinuation here in 2016.

The DS 9 will be an important new product for the Chinese market. DS sales have been declining in the brand’s two key markets: Europe and China. In Europe, DS sales reached a high of 117,374 in 2012 but have continued to sink every year since, PSA shifting only 45,251 DS-branded vehicles last year.

In China, DS models produced by Changan PSA, which account for the bulk of the DS range, have been haemorrhaging sales. From a high of 26,008 in 2014, DS shifted just 3,867 last year.

Unfortunately for PSA, its other brands have also been struggling in China. Despite having a manufacturing presence in China and producing a number of models exclusive to that market, such as a new generation of Citroen C6, both Peugeot and Citroen have seen sales declines every year for the past four years.

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