Friday, September 19, 2014
DS TO BECOME STAND-ALONE BRAND IN UK
Citroen has announced that its DS sub-brand will be split off and marketed separately in the UK. The move has been likely for some time, not least because Citroen currently markets DS as a stand-alone brand in Asia.
There, DS models are even sold from separate dealerships.
And, following its unveiling of a new concept model, the Divine DS, Citroen has made its plans public. Unlike DS models now on sale in the UK, the Divine carries no Citroen badging.
Citroen says that the separation will have little if any short-term effect on the way it retails DS models in the UK, keeping the existing 'showroom-within-a-showroom' set-up for now. The company didn’t, however, rule out the sale of DS models from dedicated sites at some point in the future.
Citroen has also said that if the split goes to plan the company will consider internal reorganisation, better to support the two brands.
The car-maker says Citroens will now be defined by affordability and practicality, while DSes will be more about distinctive styling, sophistication and luxurious interiors. The Divine DS is to appear at the Paris Motor Show next month.
For the year to August, Citroen has sold 52,272 cars in the UK, giving it a 3.41% market share. But while UK sales of all cars are up by 10.1% so far in 2014, Citroen’s have increased by only 2.31%. DS models account for a third of that total, with the DS3 supermini taking by far the biggest share.
DATED: 19.09.2014
FEED: ARN
