Citroen has revealed prices for the DS3
Citroen has revealed prices for the DS3 range which launches in Spring 2010. Starting at £11,700 for the 1.4 16V VTi 95hp in DSign trim, rising to £18,775 for the DSport 1.6 THP 150hp.
The MINI-challenging Citroen DS3 – the first of Citroen’s ‘Premium’ DS models – was revealed in September and is due to go on sale in the Spring of 2010. But ahead of that launch date Citroen has managed to publish prices for the new super-mini, which surprisingly are coming in a bit more than we expected.
Citroen had stated that they aimed to undercut MINI on price when the DS3 came to market, but the starting point for the DS3 is £750 more than for the MINI and a rather large £3k more than the starting point for that other mini style icon, the Fiat 500.
On offer from the start is a trio of petrol and a couple of diesel engines. Petrol engines come in three flavours – 95bhp, 120bhp and 150bhp – and the diesel 1.6 HDi as either 90bhp or 110bhp. The 90bhp version hits the magic 99g/km CO2 emissions. All five cars come in three trim levels – DSign, DStyle and DSport.
As expected, there are endless MINI-Style options depending on the model. You can kit your DS3 out with a bewildering array of colours for the body, roof, upholstery, dash and gear knob. There are graphic options on the roof, choices of alloys up to 17″ and frankly more options than you can shake a stick at.
Prices start out at £11,700 for the 1.4 16V VTi 95hp in DSign trim, rising to £18,775 for the DSport 1.6 THP 150hp. If we were to publish every price and option here this page would be about three miles long, so the best bet is to have a play with Citroen’s on-line configurator for the DS3.
Next up in the DS range will be the Citroen DS4 and Citroen DS5, which should arrive by 2010 and help Citroen’s push upmarket.
Citroen DS3 Photo Gallery
[nggallery id=644 template-customlinks]
d says
You are still not comparing like for like: as I said, the nearest Mini to the entry DS3 VTi 95hp is the £685 more expensive 95hp Mini One. The Mini range starts one model lower than this (with the Mini First) because the range is pitched lower. Just because the main part of the range can be compared doesn’t mean that the lowest (or highest) models can be. That would be like comparing Tescos stripey “Value” range with Sainsbury’s “Taste the Difference” range!
Citroen may be marketing the C3 and the DS3 seperately, but that’s because the DS is the premium range (of the C3, C4 & C5). The marketing is all about “DS Inside”: It’s difficult to describe any of the huge but cramped Mini range as luxurious or comforatble for it’s occupants. Despite being a medium size car (like the C3/DS3 on the outside, it’s a small car (like a C1 or C2 on the inside. As far as comfort/luxury INSIDE is concerned, the Mini is better compared to the C2 in size, but is much more expensive and less comforatble. So if the Mini comes off worse against Citroen’s C2 range, why compare it to the larger C3 range, let alone the even higher spec, higher luxury, DS3 ? Considering it’s in a completely different class of size (and luxury and comfort…. which is what the DS Inside range is about, remember), it is priced, as with other Citroens), extremely competitively.
You also mentioned the Fiat 500, which is more comparable in size to the C1 & C2, not the C3/DS3 range. The only real similarity between the DS3, the Mini and the Fiat 500 is that they will be competing in the latest fashion/charm stakes. Here, the Mini is past it. It’s always been a love it or hate it sort of car, but it can’t be denied that it has a sort of retro/modern charm. This is why it sells, but it’s looking old and too common now. If it is updated by the same design team as all the other BMWs, that will kill it off completely, except for the sort of people that just buy cars because the manufacturer’s NAME is fashionable. The Fiat 500 is doing well for the same reasons that BMW’s Mini did 8 years ago. I think it will be the best selling fashionable car of it’s size / class. Fiat’s Punto range may be comarable to Citroen’s C3 range, but the Punto is not comparable to the DS3 in the fashion/charm stakes, in the same way that the BMW 1-series is not.
CarsUK says
We actually agree with much of what you’re saying about the DS3. The reason for using the MINI and the 500 as comparisons is that they are bought by the same demographic Citroen is aiming at with the DS3. For that reason the comparison is valid. We also agree that the ubiquity of the MINI is becoming boring
d says
You keep treating the DS3 as seperate to the rest of the C3 range! The new “DS” models will be the top of the range models of the C3, C4 & C5: the same car, but higher spec, (like the Ford Ghia models used to be).
So you comparing the starting price of the Mini range with the starting price of the first of the top models of the C3 range (ie the DS3). You said on 6th December that the new C3 would start at £10790, which IS cheaper than the base model Mini First. The nearest Mini to the entry DS3 VTi 95hp is the £685 more expensive 95hp Mini One, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t come near the DS3 for individualised spec, (which is what the DS versions of the C3, C4, and C5 ranges is all about): “DS Inside”, where DS=”Different Spirit”.
CarsUK says
Citroen are marketing them as different models, even though they are the same under the skin. So we feel the comparison between the DS and the MINI is valid, whereas comparing the C3 and the MINI isn’t.