The French brand celebrates five years since the launch of its first model, the now redesigned DS7
Borja Sekulits, General Manager of DS Spain and Portugal, was commissioned six years ago to launch and position DS Automobiles, the ‘premium’ brand of the then PSA group and now Stellantis. A year later, the first model arrived at dealers exclusively for the new ‘premium’ brand. It was the DS7, a C-segment SUV, that was enthusiastically received by the market. Today, five years later, this model is being renewed to remain the brand’s bestseller.
-After the pandemic, the war has come, an energy crisis, skyrocketing inflation and a rise in the money price. Could all this push the demand for cars even more?
– It will undoubtedly have an impact. After housing, buying a car is the second most important investment for a family, so these circumstances do not help. I think there may be some delay in the purchase decision. We’re not going to see it very clearly right away, because there are a lot of cars pending delivery that are not yet manufactured, but are being sold. It is very likely that there will be a break in the retail sales channel and people who need it will be able to choose to buy a used car. The fact is that it is there, and especially from DS we try to overcome this slowness by offering attractive financial products.
-There are still 13 years to reach the border where the EU will ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles Can this change put an end to the democratization of mobility that the car brought with it in the 1960s?
-We are at the beginning of the transition and it will happen gradually during this time. In these thirteen years, electric vehicles will be more accessible to the middle class. We are still in a moment of uncertainty, but little by little they are gaining the upper hand. Today at DS, in fact, more than one in three cars we sell are hybrid or electric, which is more than 30 percent of what we sell. Everything will change as there are more charging stations, if vehicle switching support plans are maintained and as electric technology becomes more accessible to all. In all of this, I hope that there are also technological changes in this day and age that can help us. It is true that today there is still a long way to go and that many things still need to change. If we look at the ranges that manufacturers offered three years ago and what we have in the catalog today, we see that the sector and the Stellantis group to which DS belongs have done their homework. There are dozens of models to choose from between electric and hybrid.
– The average autonomy of electric cars currently on the market is about 350 kilometers What will the car of 2035 look like?
– I can talk about what I know best, which is the plan of the Stellantis group presented by our president with the launch of the new platforms for the production of electric cars and it was noted there that the cars will be up to 700 and 800 have kilometers of autonomy. That’s right around the corner, we’re not talking thirteen years, we’ll see in a short time. In addition to autonomy, because batteries are not infinite, the future depends on sufficient charging points and, above all, on sufficient power. As soon as we have a good network of charging points with enough power to recover 80% of the battery in 15 minutes, we are in a normalization scenario. But this is the near future. At the moment there are also other fuels, such as hydrogen, that are being tested today. What’s clear is that the cars will be more technological and will be a hybrid between a mechanical product and a digital product, which is what we’re starting to see.
-The cars of 2035 are getting smaller, will they be shared, will it be a usage fee?
-That must be a little bit. They are formulas that have a very concentrated validity today, as is the case with carsharing, which does not exist in all cities. There will also be a usage fee, whereby the customer does not bear the full cost of the vehicle and which is an interesting formula. All these formulas will coexist depending on the type of population and type of vehicle, they already exist and will be generalized. I noted earlier that the retail sales channel was declining, but a large portion of that audience has switched to personal rentals.
-The brands have complied with all the obligations imposed on them by the European Union in the field of emission reduction. Has the administration also fulfilled its part of the obligations?
-If you analyze the European market and the degree of electrification of the countries, we see that Spain and other countries in Southern Europe have a lower implementation rate compared to Central and Northern Europe. This is an objective fact. I don’t want to be catastrophic. I think things have been done, but it’s not enough. I believe that things should be done that take longer and, above all, generate certainty among the population. We constantly see the doubts that grip the client when they see that the resource has been consumed and they don’t know if they will have access to that resource. We are lagging behind when it comes to charging infrastructure. It’s not just a question of quantity, it’s a question of quality. The future does not happen because there are tens of thousands of charging points, it happens because there are points with sufficient power, and today we find that there are many obstacles for us to install all that necessary network in a reasonable time.
-Is the support for the purchase of non-polluting vehicles sufficient to stimulate demand?
They may be enough, but I wouldn’t just stress the issue of help, which of course we always want more of. What is needed is that it is a tool that is easily and transparently accessible. We find a great diversity of regional authorities, each with different legislation and with resources that are not sufficient to cover their demand. This makes it very difficult for manufacturers in daily practice.
-80% of cars in Spain park on public roads. How do we solve the charging need for the majority of the mobile fleet?
-There is a lot to do in the cities in expanding the charging points. These points in the urban environment do not require the same power as those on major communication routes. I think we’re intervening a lot here to make all of this work. But putting all the pieces together is an exercise we all have to play in, not just the manufacturers.
-Five years have passed since the launch of the DS7, the first model made especially for the brand. A model that has put the brand on the map internationally What does DS Autobiles offer that sets it apart from the rest of the Premium brands?
-In Spain, since the arrival of the DS7, 18,000 cars of this model have already been registered and are driving on our roads. This has already made us a notorious and recognized brand. But beyond the DS7, the brand has a distinctive personality compared to its rivals. You may like it more or less, but obviously it’s different. A difference based on the values of quality materials and state-of-the-art technological developments that set us apart from our rivals and are unique. This has somehow turned us into an alternative ‘premium’ brand compared to the traditional one. At the moment, although we always want more, we are quite happy with how these five years have gone.
-Spain is the second largest market for DS in Europe. Why is this?
-We are the second market in penetration after France. The truth is that DS has been very well received in both Spain and Portugal and we are very excited to continue working.
-How will the microchip crisis affect you and what delays do you have in delivering cars to customers?
The crisis of microchips and electronic components is known to affect car production. This is linked to battery supply. DS, within the Stellantis group, has quite tight deadlines and at the moment delivery for a combustion engine car is three or four months and for a plug-in hybrid six months, which are reasonable deadlines. We would like them shorter, but I think they are affordable. Making vehicles parked waiting for a buyer is a model doomed to disappear simply because what’s inside a car is much more complex than it was a few years ago.
-How’s the audience that wants to conquer DS?
-In DS, we have included four families in our range over the past five years, namely DS3, DS4, DS7 and DS9. These models cover approximately 75% of the segments where there is demand for Premium vehicles. We are not talking about men, women or ages, because the buyer of each of the models is different. I think we have a DS product for every age and every gender, what is certain is that our customers are people who are looking for something different, who value good materials and have the personality to drive a different car. to drive. That’s what our customers tell us in the surveys, that the price is not their first reason to buy, that they like the line, the design, those are more subjective things, but the truth is that it’s not possible these days that a DS4 or DS7 is confused with other models in its segment.
-Is a range with only four models sufficient or will there be more in the coming years?
-When we launched the brand five years ago, we promised to launch one model a year and we delivered, and in all these models there is an electrified version. In the future, the DS family will continue to grow, but today it is enough to cover the demand for Premium models in the Spanish market. We may miss silhouette as a station wagon, but that question can be filled with the DS7.
-DS Automobiles is closely linked to the competition through Formula E, where the Techeetah-DS team has been world champion several times. Are you considering launching a sports model?
-For me, as a car enthusiast, I wouldn’t mind, but today it’s a very niche market, where few units are sold and when you create a brand, it’s not a priority.
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The next model, what will it be?
-At this time, the product plans are confidential. I’ve had the chance to see them in scale models and they are truly spectacular, with lines that have nothing to do with what we produce today.
-We are in a very changing world and the pandemic has changed many habits, including the marketing of products. Is DS going to change this or stay true to its DS Store philosophy?
-We have opted for a mixed model between face-to-face and technological. This is evident in all our stores, which are very special, but at the same time we have a very distinctive experience, where the car can be configured online at no extra cost and delivered to your home. I don’t think the two models should be opposed, they are complementary formulas.
The customer of the future will be more digital and we see it in the month-on-month behavior with an increase in online sales, although it is still small.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
