From 12 to 14 April 2012 the DS Days celebrated the second anniversary and 200,000 sales of the DS line, which has become a true French success story. The event featured test drives, production site visits and the reveal of a forward-looking concept car, Numéro 9. The DS experience continues at the end of the week with events organised across France.

DS Days: three days of shared passion and enthusiasm

CITROËN kicked off the DS Days last Thursday evening at C_42, the brand’s international showcase on the Champs-Elysées, with a soirée attended by over 350 guests. DS customers rubbed shoulders with journalists and personalities, while Citroën Brand CEO Frédéric Banzet together with Philippe Varin, Chairman of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Managing Board, handed over the keys of the 200,000th DS model – a DS5 – to a Dutch customer. The Brand CEO also revealed CITROËN’s new concept car, Numéro 9, which points to the styling features of upcoming models in the DS line. Numéro 9 will be presented at the Beijing Motor Show.

The atmosphere at the DS Days evening was electric, with live music mixed by the electro duo Cassius, whose song “I Love You So” was used in the CITROËN DS4 launch ad campaign. At C_42 Cassius flaunted all of their French touch with distinctive rhythms redolent of “Créative Technologie”. Web users got to check out the highlights of the party with official videos posted on CITROËN’s Facebook page (www.youtube.com/theofficialcitroen).

Because the DS line is above all a human adventure, the DS Days event involved the sites that produce the made-in-France DS3, DS4 and DS5 cars, namely Poissy, Mulhouse and Sochaux, respectively. Plant visits were organised for over 500 visitors (general public, DS customers and DS3 Spirit blog members), giving them an insider’s view of how DS models are made and an idea of the consummate quality applied at each step in the production process. From the DS3 personalisation workshop at Poissy to DS4 bench tests at Mulhouse and a nighttime visit of the DS5 production lines at Sochaux, the visitors got to see all the facets in the manufacture of CITROËN’s distinctive line cars and meet the Brand and Group teams behind the success.

The three-day event also featured test drives for the general public of all the models in the DS line, including specially tuned DS3s on the Sougy track near Orléans.

CITROËN DS TOUR: DS line test drives across France

Keeping the initiative alive, the Brand has developed the CITROËN DS TOUR to give the public a fresh opportunity to test drive a DS model in privileged conditions. The DS TOUR is a travelling DS showroom that will set up shop in 20 French towns beginning at the end of the week and lasting through November, with the participation of local CITROËN dealers.

The DS TOUR is an original way for the Brand to get out and meet the public and enable people to find out about and test drive DS line cars. A range of DS3, DS4 and DS5 models will be available. Test drivers will be accompanied by a member of a team specially trained to explain the specific characteristics of each model.

The DS TOUR’s first port of call will be in Annecy on 20 and 21 April. Subsequent destinations include Marseille, Nice, Lyon, Reims, Strasbourg, Tours, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Clermont-Ferrand and, naturally, Paris, timed to coincide with the Paris Motor Show from late September to mid October.
Programme, dates and sign-up at www.dstour.citroen.fr

Labels: DS line, DS3, DS4, DS5, Numero 9