Citroen DS5: Official

Citroen DS5 - another convincing DS Citroen

We had the arrival of the Citroen DS5 trumpeted as long ago as 2009 when we revealed that the DS5 would arrive in 2009, complete with hybrid diesel powertrain.

Despite the official debut of the DS5 being just days away – and Citroen teasing the DS5 with a photo of a headlight last week – the powers that be at Citroen have decied that we ought to at least have a few photos and some detail ahead of Shanghai. How kind.

The Citroen DS5 seems to be a bit of a return to the launch of the Citroen DS3, when we struggled to see how this funky and chic little car shared 99% of its DNA with the rather bland C3.

The DS4 was a lot more predictable – it looked a lot like the C4 – but the DS5 is a long way away from the C5, with its high-riding stance and swoopy roofline. It’s good-looking, and we expect it to be even bolder in the flesh.

It’s also stumpier than the C5, coming in at 4.52m long compared to the C5′s 4.78m, which makes it look more aggressive and purposeful – and it’ll still take five in comfort, say Citroen.

Headline stuff – apart from changing the C5 in to the appealing-looking DS5 – is the oily bits.

As we reported back in 2009, the Citroen DS5 is endowed with Citroen’s Hybrid4 system(yes, that’s the same deal as the Peugeot HYbrid4), which in the DS5 offers 163bhp to the front wheels from the 2.0 litre turbodiesel and 37bhp to the back wheels from an electric motor.

That combination – which can even run on just electrickery (but that’s Prius-style – only at walking speed in the real world) – offers the promise of excellent economy, decent performance, high grip and emissions of just 99g/km.

Inside the DS5 is the notch or three up the DS3 is from the C3. Lots of leather and a cabin that looks good with lots of sexy-chic cues – just like a grown-up DS3. There’s also red and white ambient lighting and you can play fighter pilots with a heads-up display and switches on the roof.

It seems that Citroen are taking a production-ready DS5 to Shanghai, which considering we don’t think the DS5 will launch until the very end of 2011 is a surprise. Expect the UK to have to wait until early 2012 to get the DS5, with prices starting the wrong side of £25k.

Does look like a winner.

By Cars UK