A rebooted DS3 hatch might be the French brand's only hope of UK survival
Editor Paul Barker thinks DS's plans for a reboot of its popular hatchback is a good idea
Can going back to its roots finally bring success for DS? I’ve always thought that the Stellantis-owned French premium brand has been hampered rather than helped in the long term by the enormous success of its first model – the chic little DS3.
One of the first real premium small car alternatives to the MINI, the DS3 hatchback sold in big numbers, and may have created the impression that the brand, rather than the appeal of the model itself, drove the success.
Nothing DS has done since has come close to building on that initial demand, and its larger models have, in the UK at least, pretty much sunk without a trace. DS only just passed 1,000 sales here in 2025, and only a dozen cars were registered in December – an appalling figure.
Genesis, Smart, Alpine and even Jaguar – which was only selling old models it found at the back of the car park – outsold DS across the year, while Bentley and Maserati beat it significantly in December.
The French brand clearly needs something, and as appealing as the new No8 saloon or revised No7 SUV may or may not be, it makes sense for DS to return to the arena of its only real victory: fashionable small cars.
In the UK we’ve never really bought the concept of a French luxury car brand, and no amount of aligning with high-end Parisian fashion or perfumes seems likely to change that. But a small premium car could be a smart move, especially as cities look to ban big, heavy SUVs and people with more disposable income potentially look for something small but sophisticated. After all, DS has always designed plush interiors, even if they have been ergonomically odd at times.
It may be that DS is a lost cause in the UK, and will simply have to settle for being a bigger hit in its home French market, where it at least passed 15,000 sales last year. But perhaps a classy small car could hit the spot in the same way as the original three-door DS3, before it morphed into a less-loved small SUV.
At present, that’s something that the newer Chinese brands aren’t yet offering in their relentless quest to flood the market with SUV after SUV. For DS, its past success could be the route to a more secure, and maybe even successful, future.
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