It was back in January last year that DS Automobiles Malaysia hinted at the possible debut of the DS3 Crossback, which will join the DS7 Crossback and DS5 in the local line-up. There’s not been much news on the matter since then, but it looks like this could finally become a reality.
The compact crossover was recently spotted in Penang by paultan.org reader Adam Hasrol, suggesting that the plan is still in motion. However, there are still some questions involving the DS brand here, especially in regards to distributorship.
If you remember, Groupe PSA announced back in December 2020 that it has awarded sole distributorship of its Peugeot brand in Malaysia to Berjaya Auto Alliance (BAASB). The official release at the time stated that the deal does not include the distributorship of the Citroën and DS brands, with the local consortium only obtaining the rights to provide aftersales and spare parts.
As such, there is a possibility that this particular unit was brought in before the transition, although the exact plans for the DS and Citroen brands going forward remain unknown for now.
Getting back to the car itself, the DS3 Crossback was first unveiled in September and replaces the previous DS3, which was also known as the Citroen DS3 before DS Automobiles became a standalone brand in 2015.
Featuring a funky design that inside and out, the lightly camouflaged unit you see before you appears to dressed up in “Grand Chic” trim, if we refer to DS’ French website configurator. Highlights include plenty of chrome accents on the exterior, twin tailpipes, a bright leather interior, along with a set of 18-inch “Shanghai” alloy wheels.
The crossover is available with petrol and diesel engines alongside a new E-Tense fully electric version. The 1.2L PureTech three-cylinder petrol engines come in 100 PS, 130 PS and 155 PS forms; while the 1.5L BlueHDi diesel can be had in 130 PS and 100 PS outputs. Europeans can choose from an eight-speed auto and a six-speed manual, with AWD available.
Meanwhile, the E-Tense setup sports a 136 PS (100 kW)/260 Nm e-motor powered by a 50 kWh lithium-ion battery under the floor. A full charge is done in five hours when the vehicle is plugged into a dedicated 11-kW AC wallbox (Type 2). Plugging the car into a 100-kW public DC fast charger (CCS) for 30 minutes will see the battery hit 80% charge. A range of 300 km is touted, along with a 0-100 km/h time of 8.7 seconds.
GALLERY: DS3 Crossback
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Gran Chic? More like ugly Duckling
Not too long ago …. Citroen Xsara sell at rm62k & Proton Waja 1.6X RM68K but most ppl still go for Waja..
dude-i wonder how your missus looks like….
According to those curves, the price must be unnecessarily expensive.
there is a white color ds3 crossback prowling in petaling jaya
so ugly and rare that even if you purposely leave your car engine on while go shopping for few hours, it wont get stolen
danny tay-if that design is ugly to you, wonder how your missus looks like?
I thought it saw hantu kom-kom in black driving the DS3. Just pixelate the face will do….
The photo was sent to us like that
possible that berjaya will assemble this car for asean market. psa can even come here and do the distribution (sales and marketing) by itself, just like Volkswagen (then VGM, now VPCM), a subisidiary of VAG europe.
I thought we (asean) signed a free trade agreement with EU.so why are cars still expensive?
There is such a thing called Exchange Rate
Very ugly rear door design!!!!
The car looks great, except for those rims. The rims in white colour DS3 crosssback look better.
Let’s wait and see if DS will get new distributor. Hope it does.