DS Salons in the UK

[DaveB]

Usual bonkers "Blue Sky" manufacturer thinking. DS is a halo effect for the Citroen brand and should enhance it. It is not economically viable to have a Citroen franchise and a separate DS salon. It may work for the BMW and Mini brands, but not for Citroen, who are frankly still in the dark ages with customer service, a greater investment in which would be a far better proposition.

VW group have separate brands for the makes which they have acquired over time but don't have a separate brand for the Golf.

That said I think the DS3 is a great small car and Citroen were always good at those.

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head, apart from customer service, which I've found pretty good - maybe after six years of Alfas my expectations were not very high!

Setting up a stand-alone "premium" brand is not easy. Toyota has managed it with Lexus, but Infiniti & Acura aren't exactly household names. What worries me about DS is that I'm not really sure that it's strong enough to stand alone. I think the DS3 may be one of those one-off successes that every manufacturer has from time to time & which may not be repeated; the other DS models don't appear to have the same appeal.

As for "DS Salons", whenever I see big, pretentious, glossy showrooms I see big overheads which add cost without adding value. Guess who pays that extra cost?

[Bigfeet]

...As for "DS Salons", whenever I see big, pretentious, glossy showrooms I see big overheads which add cost without adding value. Guess who pays that extra cost?...

That's the heart of any retail environment though, the nice showroom/shop has to be paid for somewhere.

I think we might be getting carried away, the DS salons at present are just to show where things are heading and it is not a requirement as of yet. Granted this will change once DS has settled a little bit more and people are more aware of the brand.

As for the future DS has in the pipline a load of new models to fill the line up from the current three cars but I'm not really allow to give anything away at this point.

[lfcrule1972]

Yeah - Pick up truck, hoverboard and DS Starbug (c) Red Dwarf

[Bigfeet]

Yeah - Pick up truck, hoverboard and DS Starbug (c) Red Dwarf

You forgot the Batmobile and APC...


I think Citroen might be doing a Blue Midget

[cyclone]

You forgot the Batmobile and APC...


I think Citroen might be doing a Blue Midget

I would be happy with the China DS offerings for a start. Along with their 1.8 liter THP200

[DigitalCal]

What worries me about DS is that I'm not really sure that it's strong enough to stand alone. I think the DS3 may be one of those one-off successes that every manufacturer has from time to time & which may not be repeated; the other DS models don't appear to have the same appeal.

As for "DS Salons", whenever I see big, pretentious, glossy showrooms I see big overheads which add cost without adding value. Guess who pays that extra cost?

I agree on the strength of the brand front. I find it odd that they've separated this early into any DS models being introduced (it's only been 6 years since the first model).

With regards glossy showrooms, I guess it depends on the manufacturer. They're certainly a more pleasant space to spend time though, if you need to.

[Old Bloke]

They will bring out some good cars in the DS range. They may make some ground with this in their home market, but Citroen, Peugeot, Renault and Fiat are seen as small car brands and good ones too. But move into the B + segment in the UK and they will not beat the Germans.
Cranky old farts like me who have driven Citroens since 1983 will still buy the larger cars, but there is no escaping that un-cranky folk aspire to BMW or Audi or Mercedes, even though they may not actually be as pleasant to drive in some cases. Even with the VW emissions scandal, not many people will be giving up their Golfs and rushing out to buy a Citroen,or Honda or Hyundai.

[footix2]

Never got the appeal of VW and my first car was a Golf. Overpriced mediocrity. I've travelled 500 miles in a high spec Passat and it was like sitting in a park bench for 7 hours.


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