Flagship DS 9 to arrive later this year with prices from £40,615

The new DS 9 luxury saloon is now available to order in the UK with prices starting at more than £40,000. France’s answer to the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the newcomer will arrive later this year with a choice of two trim levels and the option of plug-in hybrid power.

Customers will get the choice of two trim levels, with the £40,615 starting price buying you the Performance Line+ model. That car comes with chrome badges on the front doors, a gloss black grille and 19-inch black alloy wheels. LED headlights are also standard.

Inside, the Performance Line+ models include black Alcantara upholstery with red and gold stitching, plus a perforated leather steering wheel. A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is fitted as standard, while the dashboard houses a 12-inch touchscreen and a clock from watchmaker BRM. All DS 9s come with the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration systems, as well as wireless phone charging and heated seats.

Stepping up to the £44,715 Rivoli+ gets you ventilated front seats that can massage you, while there’s also a new DS Air Quality System that filters fine particles to clean the air in the cabin. Perhaps more importantly, Rivoli+ models also come with DS’s Active Scan Suspension, which scans the road ahead and tunes the suspension to suit the bumps in the road.

Another strength of the Rivoli+ versions is the choice of three different interior styles. You can have the standard black leather, or you can choose one of the Opera interiors, in either black or red. Opera interiors also feature ‘watch-strap’ upholstery and an Alcantara roof lining, as well as aluminium pedals.

More on the new DS 9:

DS 9 debuts as plug-in luxury saloon for markets 'around the world'

DS Automobiles UK to exclusively offer plug-in models by 2025

Both cars come with a choice of two powertrains at launch, with the cheaper option being the 1.6-litre PureTech 225 petrol engine. With 222 bhp and an eight-speed automatic gearbox, it’ll get the DS 9 from 0-62 mph in 8.1 seconds, while more sedate driving can elicit more than 40 mpg.

The other option is the E-Tense plug-in hybrid. That combines a 1.6-litre petrol engine with a 109 bhp electric motor, giving you a total of 222 bhp. But with an 11.9 kWh battery on board, the car is capable of up to 33 miles of all-electric driving on a single charge. That means it emits carbon dioxide at a rate of between 33 and 35 g/km, putting it in the 11 percent company car tax bracket.

Later this year, the existing engine range will be joined by another E-Tense plug-in hybrid. Dubbed the E-Tense 4x4 360, it’s expected to have around 355 bhp and four-wheel drive.