After a year of no new products in 2023, DS will be much more active in 2024, when it will take the first steps towards becoming an all-electric brand. One of these strong links will undoubtedly be the future DS, which will embody the new high-end of the French brand.
Embodied by the DS 9, the French brand's top-of-the-range model will soon be replaced by the codenamed D85, but all indications are that it will be called the DS 8. This future top-of-the-range DS will be the embodiment of a new stage in the development of the French premium brand Stellantis, which will herald a new exterior and interior style and new technologies.
Exterior styling inspired by the ASL concept
For this new large saloon, the length of which could reach 4m80, DS has given itself the means by using the new STLA Medium platform recently inaugurated by the new Peugeot 3008. However, DS will dress its new large saloon in its own style, with taut lines in line with the ASL concept, which announced the style trend for future DS. We should therefore find some very pronounced lines and some very interesting new features, especially at the front where the grille could be original and surprising. Here we should look for inspiration from the E-Tense Performance concept, which faithfully announced the front of future DS, including this DS 8, which should therefore feature very thin projectors accompanied by garlands of LEDs that descend to the bottom of the shield, framing a grille that could be completely closed.
Like the ASL concept, the future DS 8 should offer astonishing proportions with a high ground clearance with a greater height but a saloon ride height, a bit like Citroën offers with the C4 but more accentuated. The rear should have the same design as the front, with very thin lights framed by LED bars that go all the way down to the bottom of the badge. Tight, very sculpted lines for this future DS 8, far from the softness and pure technology of the original DS, but which, it seems, make it a very beautiful saloon.
A different style of interior
Inside, this future DS 8 should surprise you with an undeniably high-end atmosphere, directly inspired by the ASL concept. No one knows if we will be able to find the straw that DS used on the concept, but the brand will obviously score big points with the interior of this future large saloon.
We should find an atmosphere close to that of the last DS 4, which already focused on something more refined, but DS should go even further with the future DS 8, without completely abandoning the screens as in the concept. Here, DS should use two large screens for the instrument cluster and the multimedia system, but the rest of the dashboard should be refined and very high quality, with very artistic aspects in the front seats, which seem to be magnificent or very original, like the steering wheel.
If DS goes in the direction of Tesla with a refined interior, it will stand out very clearly with much more upmarket aspects and a much more original style that will give this future DS 8 a very unique atmosphere.
But this future DS 8 will also be the opportunity to launch a new offensive in electric motors for DS, which should take over part of the engines of the new Peugeot 3008, namely a 210 hp electric motor linked to a battery promising greater autonomy. at 700 km, which would indeed be the case. With such an autonomy, motorway journeys should no longer be a problem and DS should return to the leading electric brands thanks to this long-range autonomy.
In conclusion, DS has given itself the means to return to the leading pack of 100% electric brands with a powerful motor-battery offer, while at the same time offering its own specificity with a different and original exterior style and a stylish interior where the atmosphere will undoubtedly be unique and very high quality. This future DS 8 will therefore have the means to compete with the queens of its category and should be unveiled during the first half of the year for marketing that would take place from the start of the 2024 school year. DS will thus begin its transformation into a 100% electric brand, which it will soon begin with the 100% electric version of the DS 4.