PSA Automobiles’ DS luxury division is gearing up to
introduce the DS3 shortly after terminating the DS4 and DS5 models because of
poor demand. The chic new crossover will go after the Audi Q2 and will bring a
breath of fresh air into Europe’s crowded B-segment CUV market with a totally
different design inside and out.
The diamond interior theme should be familiar to
fans of the DS and the former Citroën DS-badged models and we can see the
center console is significantly different than that of the larger DS7
Crossback. It has that love/hate tablet-styled infotainment system with a
display a lot smaller compared to the 12-inch setup of its bigger brother.
Three clusters shaped like diamonds host a myriad of
physical buttons and these are joined by the central air vents mounted slightly
lower on the center console. It’s certainly an interesting arrangement and
gives the DS3 Crossback an avant-garde interior. We can’t quite see it, but it
looks like the driver has a fully digital instrument cluster in front of him.
Stepping outside of the vehicle, the exhaust tip on
the right side of the rear bumper signals the near-production prototype was
powered by a combustion engine. However, DS has strongly hinted the posh
crossover will be offered in a fully electric specification and we actually
won’t have to wait much longer to see it. The EV will premiere in the weeks or
months to come, prior to showing up in the metal at the Paris Motor Show early
October. The zero-emissions variant will allegedly come with a 50-kWh battery
pack with enough juice 450 kilometers.
The DS3 Crossback is scheduled to go on sale in 2019
and will be one of the four crossovers the PSA’s premium arm will have by 2021.
