I'm sure there's a certain chunk of our readership who's spit-taking Orangina at the screen and crushing their croque-monsieurs in their hands in barely-contained glee. The brand we'd get would be DS, not exactly Citröen or Peugot, but it'd still be great to see some French iron back on our shores. If it happens.
The DS brand was launched as a luxury sub-brand of Citröen back in 2010, and, much like Rhoda from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, was spun off into its own brand, where it mostly sells in China and Europe. The brand's name and inspiration come from the iconic Citröen DS, which is a pretty great source to inspire anything, if you ask me.
The plan was revealed in an interview between DS CEO Yves Bonnefont and Automotive News Europe. Specifically, he said
We want to make DS a global premium brand, and you cannot be global without the U.S.
Damn right, Yves. We're part of the globe.
The DS line has cars that span from subcompact to large sedans, and I actually think they could be a good fit in the US, where they could stand apart from premium sedan offerings from the usual Teutonic suspects, and hopefully maintain just enough of that Gallic weirdness to remain appealing. They'd potentially get here in 2017 and start selling cars by 2020.
If they bring any of their smaller cars over (which I kind of doubt) they could set themselves up to be a big player in what I personally hope will be a growing premium small/city car market.
This all sounds exciting, but let's be honest here — how many times have we been teased with long-lost car markers coming back to the US? How many times did we hear Alfa was coming back? Travis just told me it was 2004, 2009 and again in 2012. So breath-holding may not be the wisest plan.
Still, I can't help but be hopeful. There's been a hole in the US market for interesting, quirky, and comfortable cars when the last of the French companies left back in 1991, and I'd be the first to welcome them back.
And start pestering for a new 2CV.