AUTOS CARS CUSTOM

This new Citroën Wild Rubis concept car shows the French manufacturer's intent to join the luxury SUV ranks with a stylish new offering.

Set to underpin the French car maker’s presence at the Shanghai motor show later this month, the high-riding concept closely previews a new Chinese-market-only production model that is planned to crown Citroën’s upmarket DS brand when it goes on sale in 2014. The model is likely to take the name DSX7 Hybrid-4 into showrooms.

The car is 4.7m in length, 1.95m in width, 1.59m in height and boasts a 2.9m wheelbase. Autocar sources confirm the Wild Rubis sits on a modified version of the DS5’s platform. It is planned to showcase a new petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain to be offered as part of a range of driveline options on the production version that will likely make its premiere at next year’s Beijing auto show.

The new drivetrain uses a transversely mounted gasoline engine to power the front wheels and an electric motor to drive the rear wheels to provide it with four-wheel drive capability.

Nothing is official just yet, but indications are the four-cylinder gasoline engine will boast a capacity of 1.6-litres. In combination with the electric motor, the direct-injection unit is expected to provide an overall system output of around 240bhp.

Citroen’s design boss Thierry Metroz, told Autocar he is particularly proud of the car’s detailing. The car’s light elements retract behind glass when not needed and the 3D taillights are shaped to show the DS logo. The bright roof rails descend to define the rear end shape of car.

With a length of around 4700mm, the new Citroën SUV is similar in size to the Volkswagen Touareg – just one of a number of established luxury SUV offerings Citroën development Pierre Monferrini counts among the rivals for the production version of the Wild Rubis, which is planned to be produced in co-operation with Citroën’s Chinese-based joint-venture partner, Dongfeng.

Plans are to initially offer the production version of the Wild Rubis exclusively in China. However, Citroën suggests it may also be added to its European line-up as part of plans to position the company’s DS brand against the likes of Audi, BMW and Volkswagen.

The Wild Rubis, which hints at a Citroen DS SUV, is likely to involve into one of three new DS models. Citroen will launch the next DS model – a C-segment saloon – in around the beginning of 2015, followed by a big saloon tipped to carry a DS6 badge.

The DS range has been hugely successful for Citroen, which has sold 300,000 models in 30 months. The DS3 represents two-thirds of that total, with the remaining shared between the DS4 and DS5.

Thanks to: Autocar