New DS 3 to return to its affordable hatchback roots

DS Automobiles will revive its DS 3 hatchback as a “sophisticated” and radical car that will banish the brand’s poor-selling baby crossover to history.

The first-generation DS3 hatch – launched as a Citroen in 2010 – is the brand’s one unequivocal modern-day smash. It sold almost 500,000 units: a stark contrast with today’s DS 3, reinvented in 2018 as a baby crossover and currently offered with electric and hybrid power.

“The focus of all my team is the next small DS,” head of design Thierry Métroz told Auto Express at the Brussels Motor Show. “We would like to [recreate] the success story of the DS3 gen-one. We need a high-volume car with a very attractive price and a fantastic design.”

Métroz has led DS design since 2012, with his team’s cars becoming increasingly avant-garde and culminating in the dramatic No8 coupé-SUV. Expect elements of that model’s eye-catching design – a low roof to boost aerodynamics, two-tone paint, striking lights, clean surfaces – to influence the forthcoming hatchback.

The DS team is working closely with Stellantis’s new head of design Europe, Gilles Vidal, who created many of Peugeot’s recent success stories before jumping ship to Renault to shape the Renault 4 and Scenic EV. He’s working with DS, Peugeot, Citroen, Alfa Romeo and Stellantis’s other marques to sharpen each brand’s positioning.

“We are looking to create a new design philosophy for this car. We would like to break [design] codes 
on this project,” said Métroz.

With car makers including Audi and Ford in a small-hatch hiatus and many more focusing on crossovers, this type of car is ironically an unconventional move for DS. “[It’s a] hatchback, definitely,” confirmed the design boss. And will there be a crossover sister model? “No, we have only one [car]. But a very creative one that breaks all the rules.”

Unlike the original, the new 3 will have five doors, although with disguised handles to smooth airflow. Métroz has to decide whether to continue with both DS 3s’ shark fin window graphic: it’s a signature touch but might be better deployed as a subtle detail rather than starkly interrupting the hatch’s lines.

The first DS 3 was conceived as a Citroen C3 Coupé, and it spawned a 204bhp Racing version to mark the company’s World Rally dominance at the time. Will the new 3 seek to take DS in a sportier direction?

“We are not a sporty brand,” Métroz said. “The DS3 gen-one was not [excessively] sporty. It was very attractive for female customers, with a good 50:50 balance [between male and female buyers]. We would [again] like to find a good balance between sportiness and making a sophisticated, very elegant car.”

The 3 is sure to have a dynamic roofline and wide track for a good visual stance, without DS straying onto Alfa Romeo or Peugeot’s more sporty turf – Métroz and design director Vidal will enforce that. But it’s a delicate balance: “[No-one] wants a boring car!” said Métroz. “Many customers want a sporty feeling, something quite dynamic and with a strong character.”

The DS 3 has been consistently sized around four metres long, and Métroz confirms the new model will remain in the ‘B-segment’ without too excessive a growth spurt. That suggests it’s bound for the Stellantis group’s most compact car platform.

“We would like to use the STLA Small platform,” stated Métroz. It’s set for commercial launch under the next-generation Peugeot 208 in 2027 and bound for the Vauxhall Corsa shortly afterwards, with engineers having striven to minimise weight gain and plumbing in hi-tech capabilities including steer-by-wire. The DS’s ride and handling set-up will maximise comfort and refinement, two essential attributes for the brand.

STLA Small was originally conceived electric-first with combustion engines overlooked; the same thinking currently limits DS’s No8 flagship – based on the STLA Medium platform – to EV-only. “The DS 3 could be electric,” said Métroz. “But it’s a little bit too early to talk about that.”

With EV market share lagging behind the projections that shaped product planners’ decisions, and the European Union giving car makers some slack on zero-emission-vehicle targets, Stellantis engineers are now revising platforms and models to offer a mix of powertrains. And STLA Small is likely to embrace Stellantis’s compact-hybrid powertrain, mixing a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol and a small electric motor. The 143bhp unit should be good for electric drive 60 per cent of the time in urban areas.

Electric performance will be superior to today’s Peugeot E-208 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric. The maximum battery size should grow from the current 51kWh to around 80kWh, although smaller packs will be offered as well. Engineers are also working on a new range of motors, with typical power ranging from around 130bhp to 220bhp. A new electric architecture will boost public DC charging speeds, too.

Today’s DS 3 starts at £32,000, a lofty price that clearly stunts its commercial performance. Métroz is determined the new hatch’s price should be “very attractive”, and its Renault 5 arch-rival starts from £23,000 before its electric car subsidy reduces it further.

A keen price will help the DS 3 to unleash an army of desirable new hatchbacks to boost the brand’s awareness, its biggest weakness. “The DS 3 gen-one was number one in the UK for one year, above MINI. It was a love story between DS and customers, not only in France but in Germany too,” enthused Métroz.

DS has a new CEO, ex-Citroen product chief Xavier Peugeot, with a mission to rouse the French premium brand from its commercial slump. He’s kicked off a dialogue with retailers, who are calling for a new DS hatchback, the design boss confirms.

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