DS

General Motors has seven car brands. Volkswagen Group has ten. With the planned merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA, the two companies will have them beat with a combined stable of thirteen brands. And according to PSA CEO Carlos Tavares, there are no plans to get rid of any of them.

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.

The PSA Group reportedly approached Fiat Chrysler (FCA) about a merger as early as this year's Detroit motor show in January, only to be rebuffed by the American-Italian company. Sources have told The Wall Street Journal the offer was rejected by FCA, and talks about a possible combination have not recommenced. According to the paper's sources, senior executives at FCA kiboshed the proposal as it would it lead to the automaker being even more reliant on the European market.

Citroen is preparing a DS flagship to face-off with the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, based on the PSA Group EMP2 platform. According to reports from Auto Express in the UK, the flagship sedan-cum-fastback will launch in 2020 to mark 65 years since the first Citroen DS was launched. The car, which is likely to be called DS 8, will run with a more aggressive look than we might be used to, in an attempt to give the vehicle cut-through in a shrinking segment.

PSA Group, parent of Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel, has created a new standalone electric-vehicle division as it seeks to catch the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance in the burgeoning e-mobility space. The company wants the spinoff 'business unit' to "respond to the challenges of the energy transition and to build an efficient and coherent offering of electric mobility solutions" for the ever-changing automotive landscape.