CarBrandLogos archive · DS · 2020
A French executive saloon built in China, for a segment that had stopped buying saloons.
Discover the storyPhoto: Harvey Bold · CC BY 4.0
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the DS 9, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
The DS 9 was an awkward proposition executed with some conviction. Launched in 2020 as the brand's flagship, it was a full-size four-door saloon aimed at buyers who wanted something other than a German company car — and it arrived at the moment those buyers were switching en masse to SUVs.
DS 9 E-Tense Auto Zuerich 2021 IMG 0226 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0
02
Romain Saquet's design is the reason to remember it. Long, low and deliberately restrained, with a chrome band across the tail and small lamps set into the C-pillars as a nod to the original Citroen DS, it was one of the few modern saloons that looked designed rather than sculpted by a wind tunnel. The cabin used the brand's usual watch-strap leather and pearl stitching, and the car was built exclusively in Shenzhen, China, then shipped to Europe — a reflection of where DS believed the demand for a large saloon actually lived.
DS 9 E-Tense Auto Zuerich 2021 IMG 0395 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0
03
Powertrains were transverse four-cylinder petrol units with plug-in hybrid versions above them, some driving all four wheels. Sales were slight in every market. Production ended at the close of 2023, and the DS No. 8 that followed abandoned the saloon shape entirely.
At a glance
Engine
Petrol engineDesigner
Romain SaquetBody
4-door sedanTechnical specification
Badge at launch
This is the marque emblem that accompanied the DS 9's era. The full identity timeline is documented in the brand archive.
Explore the logo history →Lineage
Contemporaries from the 2020s
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