Citroën Unveils Numéro 9 a Flagship Sedan with a Hatchback

Two years after the launch of the DS range, Citroën has decided to add a flagship sedan to the lineup, but unlike most brand's large sedans, the new Numéro 9 concept is actually a hatchback. The new car will be launched in Beijing at the end of the month. For now, the Numéro 9 is just a concept, but Citroen is making it no secret that it plans to put this car into production in the near future as the DS9. In fact, it claims that the Numéro 9 is really three cars in one. The styling of this car signals the styling for the next three cars in the DS range: a C-segment premium sedan, an SUV and a D-segment executive sedan.

Citroën says that the design of the new car is supposed to both echo the current design of DS cars and move it forward. It's body is meant to appear like a shooting brake, until you look closer and notice the hidden handles for the rear doors. The car sits just 1.27m high but is 4.9m long with 21in wheels. The roof has three glass panels to give structural rigidity but give occupants natural light.

The front end of the Numéro 9 will be the new look for all future DS models. The grill is wide and incorporates the head lights and front air dam. In the case of the Numéro 9, it has full LED headlights with just the lights on the extreme edges being used as daytime running lights.

The Numéro 9 is a plug-in full-hybrid with a 50km pure electric range. It has 295hp from a 1.6 THP petrol engine but produces just 39g/km of CO2 and uses 1.7l/100km of petrol. It takes 5.4 seconds to get to 100km/h.

The production version is designed to use either a petrol or diesel engine combined with a 70hp and 200Nm electric motor powering the rear axle. Citroën claims this motor can be charged to full power in 3.5 hours on a domestic socket. The car's computer systems determine if front- or all-wheel drive is necessary and switch between the systems on the fly.

Citroën gave no indication when the DS9 would hit production. It just said that the concept Numéro 9 was very close to the production car in terms of styling and power.