DS Automobiles 2022 with record result in Germany
I like the smaller car brands, they are the fine salt in the soup of the automotive world. Without the little ones, the innovative ones that are a bit different from the mainstream, the auto galaxy would be pretty bland. For years I have been following the development of DS Automobiles, the extravagant and chic Citroën descendant, with some sympathy. Establishing a new brand is never easy, it takes staying power, the right products and a keen sense of potential customers.
2022 was a record year for DS Automobile, a nice plus of 91% in Germany as of December 31.12st. in statistics. That's exciting and brings back some memories for me from 2011. Why is that? Continue reading.
Record result in Germany
DS Automobiles was able to register almost 4.000 new vehicles in Germany in 2022. Exactly there are 3.955, especially the final spurt in the second half of the year was impressive. There are now 2 locations offering the avant-garde from France. 35% of all registrations are electrified, in the final sprint for the electric car premium in December it was even 64%.
| Month | change vs. Previous year | since January (YTD) | change vs. Previous year | |
| July | 322 | + 43,8% | 1 368 | + 8,2% |
| August | 288 | + 176,9% | 1 656 | + 21,1% |
| September | 295 | + 64,8% | 1 951 | + 26,1% |
| October | 509 | + 176,6% | 2 460 | + 42,1% |
| November | 594 | + 301,4% | 3 054 | + 62,5% |
| December | 901 | + 374,2% | 3 955 | + 91,2% |
The figures, broken down by series, are also interesting. From the DS 7 that last year revised was, 1834 new cars came on the road. The new DS 4 (who also has blog-internal fans) reported 1.140 copies, the only purely electrically available DS 3 863 vehicles.
The DS 9 is and will remain exclusive
Exclusive, which was to be expected, was the case with the DS 9. The large DS, the tastefully designed flagship of the Parisian car brand, came onto the market in 2022 with 118 units.
The prospects for 2023 are pretty good in terms of further development. From January 16th, DS Automobiles will start a TV campaign for the DS 7 in Germany and in February the new DS 3 at the dealers. It's pretty good (already seen in nature) and with small retouches and technical innovations, it looks more mature and valuable than the DS 3 Crossback, the previous model.
The registration figures for 2022 were a little flashback for me. Because, DS Automobiles is now pretty much where Saab Automobile wanted to be in Germany in 2011. 3.955 units, against the planned and never reached 4.060 pieces. For 2012, Saab wanted to sell 4.454 new cars here. Any bet that DS Automobile will crack this mark with Parisian nonchalance.
With data from the KBA and media from DS Automobiles
The brand is still young, the models are even younger. And they're a spin-off from the double chevron brand...
Shouldn't we be cautious about the numbers, for which reason is doubly justified? Isn't every DS also a double angle less since DS became an own brand from an equipment line?
Aren't there regular customers who are now responsible for the rapid growth of DS? But in principle, aren't they just reassigned within the group?
Could it be that this "booking trick" suggests a management success story that doesn't hold up on closer inspection?
It's just a thought. But mathematically it would be easily possible to cannibalize the brand with the double angle a little bit through the spin-off and to rewrite this decision independently of the overall result under the radar using registration statistics and growth rates of DS as a personal success story of those responsible.
A new brand usually has neither fans nor a single regular customer. They first have to be laboriously won and convinced. Not so easy to feed them. With DS it's all different. Every Citroënist knows that he gets his next over-double angle there ...
The only sensible criterion for evaluating the management's decision to spin off is to honestly and openly compare the canibalism that is undoubtedly taking place at Doppelwinkel to the performance of DS.
I'm missing the numbers. For the moment I am neither convinced of the sense nor the nonsense of this spin-off. Nevertheless, I am firmly convinced that those responsible will do their best to present them as meaningful and successful. Yes, what else?
Every single new registration that can be booked under DS instead of Citroën is welcome. The bottom line is that it doesn't bring anything to the group, but for the management, their bonuses and personal wealth, the reception of the spin-off is a very big issue.
I also suspect that it's just a numbers game at first, but I'm not so convinced that it won't do the company anything. The ulterior motive will probably have been that DS automobiles should be positioned higher than Citroën. The pricing will be the same, and if it's done well, the bottom line is more profit, even if the total number of items remains the same.
You can see whether it was done well in three to six years when PSA no longer knows what to do with the money... 🙂
I have to admit, I'm excited to see what the future of DS will be like. Small suppliers have a harder time today than in Saab's days, even if they are embedded in a large corporation.
In our area, more and more Aiways, Lynk & Co, Polestar and MG are hitting the streets. The China cars are attacking, that's all, but certainly not comfortable. Will DS survive there?