Stellantis Wants to Fight Bentley with DS

We certainly didn’t have DS becoming a rival for Bentley or Rolls-Royce on our bingo cards. As unexpected as the headline might seem, Stellantis aspires to fight the ultra-luxury brands. It wants to elevate DS Automobiles to a higher echelon by making the Citroën spin-off brand the “Louis Vuitton of the automotive industry.”

DS design boss Thierry Métroz made the bold statement in an interview with Autocar at the 2025 Brussels Auto Show. If you’re unfamiliar with DS, it was created by Citroën in 2009 before becoming independent within the PSA Group in 2014. Since 2021, it’s been one of the 14 brands under the Stellantis corporate umbrella following the merger between FCA and PSA.

Métroz characterized DS as “premium” but intends to level up and “touch the luxury feeling.” Rather than fighting the likes of Audi or BMW, DS has Bentley and Rolls-Royce in its crosshairs. To get there, it’s looking to boost the quality of future production models, starting with the N°8 and its fancy interior. That sounds expensive, but the Stellantis brand explains it’s not targeting volume. It’s ok with selling fewer cars at a higher price for fatter profit margins, therefore echoing the two British brands it’s chasing.

Just how big is DS Automobiles in Europe anyway? According to 2024 sales numbers published today by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), the high-end French brand had a market share of only 0.3 percent in the EU+EFTA+UK region. Deliveries fell by 22.4 percent to 37,480 units in the last 12 months.

Métroz criticized the influx of Chinese Tesla or Porsche copycats, adding DS wants to be original and come out with “something stronger” that will stand out. Upcoming models will still be heavily related to other Stellantis products to achieve economies of scale. However, the goal is to differentiate vehicles as much as possible from the run-of-the-mill Citroëns.

Photo by: DS

The company’s design head admitted that pursuing Bentley or Rolls-Royce will not happen overnight. Métroz declared it could take 10-20 years to transform DS into a fully fledged ultra-luxury brand. From this, we can deduce he is optimistic the company will still be around for the long haul. Before stepping down, ex-Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares strongly hinted that unprofitable brands would be axed.

“If they don’t make money, we’ll shut them down. We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money.” Shortly after, Stellantis issued a statement that pledged to keep all its “powerful, iconic brands.” That means Lancia is also safe, at least for the time being. Former Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight had suggested finding a new owner for Maserati. However, the automotive conglomerate shortly clarified that the company with the trident logo is not for sale.