Citroen’s DS Automobiles launches DS Performance

Citroen’s new DS Automobiles has launched a new performance division – DS Performance – as it gets more involved with racing and Virgin Racing Formula E.

Citroen is doing all it can to make the new DS Automobiles something more than just a purveyor of re-badged Citroens, and the news that a new Performance division of DS is being created should give them the opportunity to shine a performance halo on the DS brand.

DS Performance is, at the moment, more about track than road, although there’s little doubt lessons learnt will filter in to road cars, and the big focus is on the DS Virgin Racing team and its entry for the 2015-2016 Formula E season.

The new company will be based at the PSA Excellence Centre in Satory, France, under the leadership of Yves Matton where it will work on the new DSV-01 Formula E car which has a DS-developed electric motor, gearbox and suspension as Formula E’s regulations relax in order to allow teams to develop and build their own cars, rather than all using the Spark-Renault car used in the first season.

Yves Bonnefont, CEO of DS Automobiles, said:

More than a simple R&D laboratory, DS Performance will stand as a true showcase of the technological expertise and avant-garde spirit of the DS brand. It was a natural move for us to call on Yves Matton and his teams, multiple WRC and WTCC world champions, to develop the all-electric DSV-01 race car.

How long it will take for the developments DS Performance make with Virgin to filter down in to DS cars with electrical assistance is anyone’s guess. But this seems a good move.