Stellantis used this week's Paris motor show to roll out a wave of concept vehicles across its European brands, including a new design direction for DS Automobiles, an unusual new body style wearing a familiar Fiat name and a wagon study from Opel.
The concepts arrived as Chinese manufacturers including BYD and Changan used the same show to preview their plans for European expansion, adding pressure to Stellantis's crowded brand portfolio.
A crowded show floor
Stellantis showed concepts for six of its European brands in Paris. Alongside the new DS, Fiat and Opel studies, the display included the Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso, the throwback Peugeot RCZ Vision and E-T16, and a retro-styled Citroen 2CV concept.
Lancia had no fresh reveal but displayed members of its recently unveiled Gamma mid-size SUV lineup, only its second new model in two years after more than a decade without new product.
The Chinese presence gave the show a competitive edge. BYD and Changan were among the brands previewing European expansion plans, and the source material frames Stellantis's concept flood as a response to that onslaught.
DS F3VER points to a small hatchback
DS Automobiles, the premium brand spun off from Citroen, revealed the F3VER as an exploratory concept opening a new chapter in its design story.
The styling nods to one of the brand's first vehicles, the original DS 3, which was sold as a Citroen before DS Automobiles was formed. Like that car, the F3VER is a small hatchback with a two-tone exterior.
It measures 4.19m long, 1.84m wide and 1.46m tall on a 2.7m wheelbase. That makes it about 200mm longer than the Citroen DS 3, all of it in the wheelbase, and 130mm wider, with tight front and rear overhangs.
Design details include angular lighting up front, tail-lights shaped like the first DS 3's but with a 'light tunnel' effect that makes them appear to extend infinitely, and a vertical 'totem' housing the DS logo in both the front fascia and rear bumper. Sharp angular elements sit against curvaceous, muscular sheetmetal on the fenders and bonnet, and the car is finished in Cosmic Blue dichroic paint with champagne-coloured accents on the roof and wheels.
DS claims an electric powertrain with class-leading range but has released no powertrain or battery specifications.
The brand context matters here. DS is often viewed as being on the bubble as Stellantis juggles more than a dozen brands, so a design-direction concept reads as much as a statement of intent as a preview of product.
Fiat Multiplay and Opel STX
Fiat revived the Multipla name, now spelled Multiplay, on an unusual new body style. The original Multipla was an innovative but polarisingly styled people mover, and the source material cuts off before describing the new vehicle in detail.
Opel's STX concept shows what future wagons could look like from the German brand.
Neither concept has confirmed production plans, specifications or on-sale timing in the source material.
