The DS Store Petaling Jaya launch event was attended by chief executive officer of DS Automobiles, Yves Bonnefont; Ambassador of France to Malaysia, Frédéric Laplanche; Head of Asean – chief executive officer of Naza Automotive Manufacturing, Groupe PSA, Laurence Noel; Group Executive Chairman, Naza Corporation Holdings, SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin and group chief executive officer, Automotive Group, Naza Corporation Holdings Datuk Samson Anand George.
The flagship store was set up with an initial investment of RM2mil and plans are under way to invest another RM5mil for marketing and operations in 2019.
The DS Store has a floor space of 3,230 sq ft and the capacity to display three cars at any one time and offers 3S facilities for the convenience of DS owners.
At the opening of the DS store today are (from left) Noel,, Bonnefont, Laplanche, Nasarudin and George.
“In the automotive industry, we need to help people understand what DS is and that is to uncover all the know-how of the French luxury industry into a car and combine it with the latest technology to create a unique mix of technology and refinement which is what DS stands for,” said Bonnefont.
This is one of the reasons why the DS Store was set up in order to get people to know the brand better. Another method is to give potential customers a longer period of test driving a DS vehicle.
“We want to introduce what we call ‘long-term test drive’ so people can test drive the car maybe for a full day. They can experience the car for themselves and return the car at the end of the day and hopefully by then, they will place an order,” said Bonnefont.
As such, Malaysians can now look forward to the new DS 7 Crossback SUV.
“The DS 7 should come pretty soon. We are now in the process of finalising the price and everything and you would be able to order the car during the first weeks of January,” said Bonnefont.
And there are more cars to come from DS.
“The promise of the brand is to introduce one new product every year. This is our global product plan.
The DS 3 Crossback which was presented at this year’s Paris Motor Show will hit the market in different regions in 2019. So the DS 3 Crossback will come later,” added Bonnefont.
