How DS plans to double UK sales in 2022

With a newly expanded line-up, dealer network and potential market reach, DS is targeting a year of significant growth in the UK in 2022, which could cement it as a front runner in the mainstream premium segment. UK managing director Jules Tilstone hinted at the potential for its new four-model portfolio to achieve record sales and attract buyers from previously untapped segments: “With two cars last year, we accessed 22% of the premium car market. With these extra two – DS 4 and DS 9 – we can double that to 44%.” Having occupied the compact crossover and mid-sized SUV segments with the 3 Crossback and 7 Crossback since its launch as a stand-alone brand, DS will now challenge a field of well established and popular rivals in the executive saloon and premium hatch segments. For Autocar Business webinars and podcasts, visit Autocar Business Insight “We want to double our sales versus 2021, fuelled by DS 4 in particular,” said Tilstone, “but we’ve got over 1250 orders as a foundation and we took more orders than we delivered cars in January, so our order bank is growing.” Key to maintaining this traction will be leveraging a growing awareness of the brand among target buyers. Tilstone said 79% of premium buyers now recognise DS when it is placed in a list with its competitors, but the ongoing challenge “is to make sure they know us because of our stores, because of our latest product – because of course DS hasn’t just arrived. We need to evolve that view.” Exposing customers to its products has been more difficult in recent months, though – particularly the new 4 and 9, deliveries and test drives of which have been plagued by pandemic-related setbacks. However, Tilstone said “we’ve had a strong start with DS 4”, pointing to 300 pre-orders taken with just one demo car in the UK. Crucial to ramping up awareness of DS’s products will be the new ‘boutique experience’ initiatives that the brand is launching to familiarise customers with its premium aspirations. A ‘test drive from your drive’ programme lets people try a new DS car without visiting a dealership and the brand will seek to give customers “an easy way to transact with us, whether it’s servicing or purchasing”. The firm will also continue with its ‘DS Privilege Events’. These allow DS customers to attend private functions such as Formula E race viewings with their friends, which means “more people get to know about DS” and are more likely to have a memorable time while engaging with the brand. It’s all part of a drive to engage directly with customers while managing the evolution of its online sales programme. “Customers are saying: ‘Online’s great, but actually I’d like to go and chat to someone about it because this is a lot of money I’m spending and I want to be sure that I’ve got what I want,’” said Tilstone. He added that DS’s research found customers may still follow the online configurator and purchasing programme, but before clicking ‘order’ would still go to finalise the transaction at the dealer. “They say ‘I want to see if I can get my golf clubs in the boot’ or ‘I want to see whether it will fit in my driveway’,” said Tilstone. “People still want to touch and feel the product.” Who's buying a DS? DS identifies three core buyer demographics: those moving out of a premium German car; those who don’t want a German car to start with; and those coming from another Stellantis brand. Some 53% of DS customers are existing premium car owners, of which 13% already own a DS, and 80% of customers in January came from outside the ex-PSA brands (Peugeot, Citroën and Vauxhall). “We’ve got the right audience coming in and discovering DS, with the right budgets, looking at the right level of cars, for us to succeed in the growth that we anticipate,” said Tilstone. DS to team up with ALFA and Jeep in joint dealerships DS cars could soon sit alongside those from new Stellantis sibling brands Alfa Romeo and Jeep in a bid to expand its retail footprint. Tilstone said this “opens up opportunities for us to open new stores with new investors in areas where we need to be sure we’ve got the right experience”. He told Autocar Alfa’s focus on “sportivity” is the “polar opposite” to DS’s ethos, and so there will be minimal crossover between the two brands’ target customers. He suggested the new dealerships would share a building but have separate entrances and branding.