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French maker DS is these days part of the 'premium pool' of Stellantis Group brands, along with Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Which means it must have a proper large sector premium product - and this is it, the DS 9. It's sized in between the mid-sized and large executive saloons you might be thinking of and claims to be a true successor to innovative Gallic luxury saloons of the past. There's proof of proper premium brand status here.

Market and Model

It's estimated that this DS 9 will account for just 0.02% of UK new car sales, so if you want rarity, you've got it right here. You'll be almost guaranteed that no one else in your office car park will have one. Customers are only offered a saloon body style; there's no estate available. Still interested? Well if so, you'll next need to know that the brand hasn't been shy with its pricing, evidenced by the fact that at the time of this test in Spring 2022, the version likely to account for most UK sales, this 'Performance Line+' E-TENSE 225 Plug-in variant, cost just over £46,000. This car's PHEV engine and 11.9kWh battery combination, we were told at the time of writing, would shortly be replaced by an upgraded E-TENSE 250 Plug-in powertrain with a larger 15.6kWh battery.

'Performance Line+' is the more affordable of the two spec levels being offered; for £3,100 more, you can stretch to top 'Rivoli+' trim. The all-petrol engine range is straightforward too - or at least in time it will be. At the time of this test, DS was offering an un-electrified entry-level PureTech 225 model, costing from just over £40,000 in 'Performance Line+' trim, but industry sources were telling us that that conventional version of the 1.6-litre turbo engine wouldn't be offered for very long. So it's best to think of the DS 9 range as being a PHEV-only line-up. The starting point from launch was the E-TENSE 225 model we tried, but as we just told you, going forward, this will get replaced by an E-TENSE 250 variant, which shouldn't differ too much from the price we gave you earlier. Go that? Good.

Cost of Ownership

All this car's full-Executive segment Plug-in rivals use larger-capacity petrol engines than the 1.6-litre unit featuring in this DS 9. With that in mind, it'd be a disappointment if this car's efficiency figures weren't class-competitive - as, by and large, they are. The key figure with any PHEV is the CO2 reading, because that of course is what your Benefit-in-Kind tax is going to be based upon. The DS 9 E-TENSE 225 we tried manages a 35g/km figure (it's a best of 41g/km for the faster E-TENSE 4x4 360 model), which means a BiK tax rate of 11% (or 13% for the faster variant). That'll drop, DS promises us, to 26g/km with the 'E-TENSE 250' model which is about to replace the car we drove, equipped with a battery raised in size from 11.9 to 15.6kWh. To give you some class perspective here, a Mercedes E300e records a 35g/km reading, a BMW 530e is rated at 31g/km and the Audi A6 50 TFSIe delivers a 27g/km figure.

Summary

It's easy to be cynical about a car that claims to be unique but borrows so much from volume brand engineering. But then, you could say that to some extent of just about any executive contender these days. The DS 9 does at least clothe its familiar mechanicals with an assured slice of Gallic flair. It won't match its key German rivals in terms of drive dynamics (or predicted residual value) but it offers more cabin space and a far greater sense of uniqueness and luxury.

For many, that won't be enough. But for the discerning few prepared to invest in what DS calls 'a Different Spirit', a new form of badge equity, this DS 9, will offer a refreshing change from the executive norm.

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