Four years passed between the presentation of the ASL (Aero Sport Lounge) concept car and that of the DS N°8. And yet, the latter benefited from the former right from the start of its genesis, thanks to the resulting manifesto (see our post dedicated to the DS N°8). Many of you find that concept cars don’t make it onto the streets very often. Today, we can congratulate the DS Automobiles design team for having met this challenge (above), even if, of course, regulatory, cost and industrialisation constraints – not to mention ‘your’ opinion during customer tests – meant that the concept evolved into a vehicle that was more acceptable to everyone!
However, we wouldn’t go so far as to write, as DS Automobiles says of the DS N°8, ‘‘thatit is fully in keeping with the avant-gardism of the original DS presented in 1955, the SM launched in 1970, and the pioneering spirit that has driven the brand since its creation in 2014.’’ This revives the debate about the legitimacy of DS Automobiles, which, when it moved out of the home of its Citroën parents, took the family jewels of the original DS and SM in its suitcases…
The DS N°8, despite its many undeniable qualities, does not offer a revolutionary contrast to its rivals, unlike the DS of 1955 against a Peugeot 403 cut like a cinder block* (above) and yet unveiled the same year as the Citroën. The fault lies not with the DS N°8, but with legislation and other constraints which, as designer Benoît Jacob told us, ‘’narrow the corridor of possibilities’’. (Read it here: https://lignesauto.fr/?p=36425) Let’s close the debate…
*I love the 403, the first Peugeot designed by Pininfarina. It’s sincerely true… don’t write!
Let’s get back to business… Designed like the DS4 by exterior designer Thomas Duhamel, the ASL concept car (pictured above) adopts the theme of a dynamic saloon in 2020, in an attempt to put the brakes on the onslaught of SUVs. This theme will serve as the basis for the styling concept of the DS N°8. It features large wheels, an SUV stance at the bottom and a tapering silhouette with a long snout featuring two ‘fins’ at the front, detached from the bonnet.
Above, Thierry Métroz explains that the ASL inspiration for the development of the DS N°8 can also be seen in the light signature, both at the front and at the rear. ‘’On either side of the Luminascreen, the vertical LEDs have been refined and on the DS N°8, eight small elements have been introduced into the headlamps, like diamonds, to reinforce the identity. As on the ASL, the logo is luminous.”
Can messages be broadcast on this Luminascreen? ”: Not yet, because it’s regulated. But it’s on all the time.”
The long development period for the D85, which became DS N°8 between 2019 and 2024, allowed the designers to leak a few hints about the new lighting identity and the Luminascreen grille: they can be seen above in an evolved version on the E-Tense Performance concept of 2022.
At the rear (above), in addition to the ASL concept’s fastback design, the DS N°8 features vertical side light blades. This is the first time it has been used on a production DS. For Thierry Métroz, ‘‘the advantage is obvious, because you can instantly recognise a DS from afar! We’ve also kept the ‘scale’ lights, which we’ve reinvented with three-dimensional scales.”
The 2020 concept car not only inspired the designers in terms of exterior styling, it also laid the foundations for the interior design, and even for the choice of materials and ‘C&M’ that were strongly inspired by the ASL concept.
You can immediately see the similarity in the design of the seats, with their integrated headrests (a neck warmer is fitted on the DS N°8) and the draped upholstery. The work was carried out by Vincent Lobry’s excellent team. Vincent worked for three years at Louis Vuitton before joining Citroën – almost 20 years ago! – and then to DS Automobiles. He is alongside Thierry Métroz below, assisted by the loyal Jean-Philippe Vanhulle, head of upholstery (right).
Inside, the ASL concept does not feature screens, but rather information projected onto the dashboard material. Is DS still working on this concept for 2030? Thierry Métroz replies that ”the brand’s intention is to do away with screens. Today we have the technology to achieve this objective, as we have tested on our manifests. The work is being done in collaboration with our suppliers and in-house engineering.”
“The hard part is: how do you control the different functions without touch interaction? First of all, we need top-level voice recognition, and then we need to find this new interaction system. We’re working on eye tracking, which works well (eye tracking by a camera which, with AI, anticipates the driver’s or passenger’s gesture). It’s something that works and is quite effective”. On the DS N°8, we will therefore be satisfied with a giant central screen (9 x 40 cm) for infotainment and a handset associated with a HUD for the driver, below.
Let’s conclude this overview of the similarities between the ASL concept and the DS N°8 with a detail that’s not really a detail at all: the centrepiece of the front door panel, an extension of the dashboard (as on the ASL). This part has several functions, including that of a handle. And it’s true that the first sensation is that you don’t dare touch it, because it looks like a little work of art in itself. Thomas Bouveret, Head of Interior Design for Alfa-Romeo and DS Automobiles, and Thierry Métroz (below) admit that during the initial tests, some customers had the same reaction. But having tested it, we can confirm that this aesthetic solution is very solid!
This part above also integrates the audio part and as the idea was not to add any extra element, ”we decided to perforate the aluminium sheet with laser cuts. We needed to achieve 50% permeability for the sound, and we did a lot of work with the supplier and with Focal. In terms of rigidity, this sheet withstands more than 5 kg of pressure and delivers the expected acoustic performance.” A third function has been added: the luminous signature on the edge that evokes external DRLs. ”And this light means that, with the door open, it can be seen by two-wheelers…’’
BONUS: SM TRIBUTE in small production runs, where do we stand?
When we met Thierry Métroz at the DS Automobiles design studio, we discussed with him the story published by our British colleagues about a possible small-scale production run of the SM Tribute. This concept, inspired by the 1970 SM, was presented at Chantilly in September. Here’s what he told us officially: ‘We took the first step by showing the Tribute at Chantilly, to an excellent reception, and now we’re working on the project. We’re looking at a number of questions: how many? small or medium series? It’s all very exciting. I’m an optimist by nature.”
Would production necessarily be outsourced? ”It all depends on the option. If we wanted to produce it industrially, we would have to join the Maserati factory with the base of the Gransturismo. But that would involve a lot of tooling. If we decided to produce a limited series, we’d have to look at French coachbuilders, because we’d like to make it in France, but there are no coachbuilders here any more… So we’re looking at several bodywork options in Italy.” And why not Touring Superleggera, an Italian company. What is the opinion of John Elkann, heir to the Agnelli dynasty, who has just temporarily taken over the reins of Stellantis after the departure of Carlos Tavares?
LIGNES/auto would like to thank Thierry Métroz, Thomas Bouveret, Vincent Lobry, Cyprien Laurentie , Marie Guidolin and the entire DS Automobiles team for their availability.
