Naza Euro Motors, DS4 and DS5 – 3 Citroen launches in a day

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New launches are love-hate events for me. On one hand, I love the attention the manufacturers give to the media, the people who they depend on primarily to get word out about the latest offering and goes through a whole lot of effort to ensure that the press leaves with an experience they never forget by delighting them with good food, pretty Caucasian models, door gifts and most importantly, displaying the launch cars as prominent as possible to give the biggest impact once it’s flashed to the mob and us, as media having the privilige to be among the first to see what has never been seen on Malaysian roads.

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On the other hand, being as obsessed as I am with what I do, I am usually one of the last to queue for the food, ignore the models who are skinny to the point you wonder if you’d break their elbows if chance has it you managed to get one home with you and preferring to shoulder my way as far forward to the car(s) which is the main reason why I’m there in the first place. Also, I had to literally “fly” on 4 wheels to get to this event since it started at 5.30pm and I left JayBee at about 6pm …. by the time I arrived at the new Citroen flagship outlet in Glenmarie, most of the crowd has dissipated, the models are finishing up work  and I’m facing lots of food and nice, new cars that no one else is crowding over. Perfect.

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So it came to be that the Citroen distributorship has been consolidated to one company and Naza has been given the task of turning the brand around, ideally like what it did with Peugeot. Yesterday, Malaysians were greeted with 3 Citroen related launches:-

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1) A flagship 3S Citroen Centre in Glenmarie, Shah Alam

2) The DS5, the premium hatchback for the family

3) The DS4, the premium hatchback for the single and couple

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Let’s talk about each of them.

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The Outlet

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It’s amazing how short a time it took for Naza to come up with a flagship store from the time the dealership handover from Brooklands was announced a few months ago, especially considering in the month of Chinese New Year, the Klang Valley looks like a post apocalyptic place with everyone leaving for their kampungs and nothing gets done. Located at the corner opposite DRB HICOM in Glenmarie, the centre is 22,000 sqft large and houses 8 service bays with the capacity of serving 24 cars per day.

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If you plan on building something similar for your own garage, it will set you back RM3.5 million …. which is easy if money is no concern to you …. but harder is the fact that this centre serves as Naza Euro Motor’s HQ and will house the DS Salon which displays only Citroen’s DS range, crème de la récolte of Citroen vehicles. Think of it as the premium store of a chain of ordinary stores …. only question is, where are the other ordinary stores?

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The DS5

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If designer clothes is the thing for you and you have a penchant to buy Burberry for your kids, then the DS5 is just the car for you. Where everyone tells you kids outgrow their clothes faster than you shave, you’d smile and think price vs quality. Where everyone tells you the country’s economy is going down the drain, you’d say I work hard enough to reward myself that little extra to bring a smile on my face everyday. Because life is short and we should smile as often as we could.

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With an aerospace-inspired design and styling, its exterior has enough chrome finishing that the moment you drive it out under the sun, it will probably make you stand out like a lighthouse to Felix Baumgartner as he jumps from space back to earth. The DS5 embodies the best of Citroen styling and gives you an idea what its like dating a French person; Chic, stylish and the promise of unending pleasure once you enter it.

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Always liked the Vertu-like center console of a Porsche Panamera but can’t afford one? Here’s a chance for you to own another at half (or more) of the German price. I am so happy to find a conventional gear stick instead of that gear “toy” found in the C4.

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Because round is too mainstream

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You get reverse camera, Arkamys sound processing with Denon HiFi connected to 10 loudspeakers guaranteeing a ear-gasmic sonic experience. Dual air-conditioning is standard.

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Over your head, you’ll find more Vertu buttons and the roof has three separate glass roof (one each for the driver, frond passenger and rear passengers).

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The leather is really comfortable and somehow, I am reminded of a few naked bums put together … even better since the electric front seats come with memory, lumbar and massage function for the driver’s seat.

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Button geeks like me would be having lots of fun pressing, flipping, caressing everything and the flat bottom steering gives it a more racy feel. In front of the steering, you’ll also find a colored head up display that’s similar to what’s seen in the Peugeot 508 Premium/GT.

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Xenon headlights, with its signature LED DRLs and front fog lights with cornering function adorn the front while at the rear:

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You’d fine twin tail pipes and LED rear tail lights. Inside the boot is a subwoofer too and space isn’t too shabby with 468litres of space when the rear seats are up.

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Size wise, the DS5 is 4,530mm long, 1,871mm wide and 1,539mm high with a wheelbase of 2,727mm. You’ll also find 18″ alloy Canaveral wheels with black gloss diamond-effect that will probably hypnotize you if you stare at it long enough.

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My biggest complaint at the back is the relatively high footwell which makes people with long legs like me having little thigh support. Long distance drives would probably be tiring for those sitting behind though I can imagine guys sitting in front will have a more fun time if the models in mini skirts are sitting behind.

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In the engine department, you get the same 1.6litre twin-scroll turbo high pressure as found in the 308THP mated to a 6 speed auto tranny, kicking 156hp @ 6,000rpm and 240Nm of torque from 1,400rpm onwards. Zero to hundred is done in 9.7 seconds and goes all the way to 202kph. Driving it sensibly, the engine returns 7.3km per litre on a combined cycle of urban and extra-urban.

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On the safety aspect, the usual ESP, ABS, EBD and EBA as well as 6 airbags is present. Other features include front and rear parking sensors, electronic parking brake and automatic wipers.

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DS4

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As the 2nd DS line car launched by Citroen, it was voted as the Most Beautiful Care of the Year at the 2011 Auto Bild Design Awards. Once more, chrome is used extensively in the exterior design and its body is sculpted with so much curves, it’ll turn as much head as a woman (or man) with a tight ass.

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Like the DS5, the DS4 has xenon headlamps, DRLs and front fog lights with cornering function.

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Measuring 4,275mm in length, 1,531mm in width and 1,523mm in height with a wheelbase of 2,612mm, the DS4 is almost identical to the dimensions of a Peugeot 308 except it is significantly thinner on the sides (the 308 has a width of 1,815mm). Being a coupe like design, the rear door handles are hidden behind the windows and unwary passengers might accidentally “spear” themselves with the sharp edge of the door there.

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Inside the engine bay, you’ll find the same ‘modified’ 1.6litre twin-scroll turbo high-pressure engine as found in the 408 Turbo that produces 163HP and 240Nm torque mated to a 6 speed auto tranny. Top speed is 212kph (I can verify this speed is achievable in the 408T 😛 ) and zero to hundred is quicker than the DS5 by 0.4 seconds.

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You’ll absolutely “love” cleaning the 18″ alloy Brisbane rims

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The bracelet design is also found here (as is all DS line vehicles) and and the front seats are electric with lumbar and massage function. No memory function though.

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Safety wise, you’ll get ESP, ABS, EBD, EBA, Blind Spot Monitoring System, HillStart Assist, intelligent traction control (a system that continuously monitors road conditions and adapts wheel traction for best possible grip (does this mean I can’t drift with this?? I look forward to testing this in wet roads), parking space gap measurement system (as seen in the Peugeot 508 Premium/GT), front and rear parking sensor and automatic rains sensor.

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You’ll also find the boot space to be quite adequate with 385 litres of space with the rear seats up … not that you’ll need much of it if you’re single or out with your other half. If you’ve got kids, better get the DS5

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Ownership and Maintenance

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This is the clincher:- the DS5 retails for RM195,000 on-the-road inclusive of insurance, etc while the DS4 would cost you RM165,000. Almost immediately, a furor of criticism was drawn from the public. What? So much for a brand that has no 2nd hand value? Under Naza group? Questionable reliability? No French girls night out with each purchase? The complaint goes on.

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The point here is what is the overall strategy of Naza? As I have written much about what I think is the business strategy (article found HERE), I think it’ll all coming true. The goal is not to create another Peugeot competitor …. it is to position the French car maker to cater for a different group of clientele. In this, no point selling with low margin so the most obvious choice is to niche it as a non-luxury brand with a luxury offering. Seeing what Naza did establishing Peugeot to where it is today, I’d say they stand a good chance of doing it with Citroen.

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And with regards to the issue of Peugeot owners complaining about overpacked SCs, long down time, etc, this will not likely to happen here in Citroen since the cars uses the same engines as the 308 and 408 so parts and after sales experience can be shared. Furthermore, with this price scale, you don’t expect high numbers of sales so the number of cars coming in for service will be limited so no worries about over capacity SCs.

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So, coming back to the analogy of branded clothes … expensive or not is entirely dependent on the buyer’s perception. The key challenge is how to equate Citroen to luxury. What the marketing team decides from now on should be quite interesting …. as for me, I just can’t wait to go for a test drive.

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