DS goes for bold with new version of top seller

REVEALED Replacement for DS7 majors on avant-garde look inspired by No 8 and will offer hybrid powertrain

- Phil McNamara [e-mail]

THAT'S more like it: DS has revealed the replacement for its 7 SUV, and it doubles down on the No8 flagship's avant-garde design.

The new No7 midsize SUV appears to share the same front end with its crossover sibling, complete with illuminated grille and two-tone bonnet, plus its STLA Medium chassis and electric powertrains. But there's one huge difference: it will also offer a hybrid engine.

“The market is changing,” DS Automobiles product director Audrey Amar explained to Auto Express. “For family cars, you need a mild hybrid — not all customers are ready to switch to full electric.”

DS, like Alfa Romeo, has been stung by pivoting too hard to electric, so it’s introducing a 143bhp hybrid. Unlike the outgoing 7 (note the slight name change), which ran plugin hybrids and diesels, this new model combines Stellantis’s 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine with a 28bhp electric motor and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. It’s a unit shared with Citroen’s C5 Aircross, and despite its small motor, it manages to quietly drive on volts for 50 per cent of the time in urban areas.

The No7 returns about 53mpg with CO2 emissions from 119 to 128g/km - figures that beat premium rivals’, reckons DS. Efficiency is a key pillar of the brand, which feeds into the big ranges of the electric versions.

The long-range No8, called a “D-cross” because its coupé-sedan body and 4.8m length place it in the D-segment, can travel 465 miles on a charge. The taller SUV adopts the same batteries - 97.2kWh and 73.7kWh - and the 460-mile long-range No7 barely sacrifices any mileage against its sleeker sibling.