What is it?
The DS 7 Crossback signals an apparent change in philosophy for the PSA Group’s fledgling luxury brand.
This is a car that’s ‘avant-garde’ in some of its details and features only. Otherwise, it’s a fundamentally – almost tediously – familiar sort of offering: yet another upmarket compact SUV among the rash of them introduced over the last couple of years seemingly by every European car maker with ambitions of growth. As such, this upmarket SUV, and the shift in thinking it represents, could prove to be the making or the undoing of DS Automobiles.
If things go well, of course, the 7 Crossback will be the Jaguar E-Pace-rival that will spearhead its maker’s transformation from relative obscurity to established global market success. Having tested the water with a couple of genuinely interesting, if troubled, introductions that have largely fallen on deaf wallets so far this decade (think the 5 and 4 Crossback), DS appears to have concluded that its customers don’t actually want innovative cars at all; rather, largely conventional ones with some innovative features, made with just a dash of identifying flourish.
As much as fans of a varied car market may regret it, that's what the new 7 Crossback amounts to. It’s a car which, you couldn’t fail to conclude, owes far too great a debt to the styling of Audi’s smaller Q-badged models to be considered original, but one which does have plenty of remarkable technological and material lures about it and does rolling refinement and material richness as well as any big French car of the last decade.
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So, we re going back to the
So, we re going back to the Audis with extra tinsel Citroen look from a few years back, so much tinsel this time that we go from bland to hideous. At least the interior is a bit interesting, but really, the Citroen/DS badge does not deserve to be on this horrid thing, as I ve said before with great sadness, this once great marque should be put to rest if all they can come up with is this dross.
hmm not sure about this review
Lots of critical writing style but little evidence why its materially worse than something else. It certainly has something differnet about it - suspension interior but that the the nub of the criticism. I always think that VWs also have lots of so so plastics if you look exposed painted window surrounds etc and yet these seem to be overlooked. The comfortable ride option is something worthy of receomendation. The interior will entertain and with time become familiar.
Innovative
Funny how the review talks about the car not being innovative enough, when the roads are full of Q-something and X-something. And when PSA clearely stated that they want to be present in the areas with large volumes.
Grated, from the outside it looks derivative - if you ignore the chrome and the LEDs, it's just another me-too Q-something. A missed opportunity for DS, they probably wanted to play safe but it won't help them buling a brand identity. Actually some of the concepts they released before this looked better in that sense.
But the interiour is from a different planet compared to its direct rivals. There is really no comparison with X1, Q3 or E-Pace. I would take the DS7 over those any day or night.