This is a rare DS 5LS 60th Anniversary Limited Edition, seen in Beijing in 2017. It was a great looker, painted in Champagne Gold with darkened windows and black window frames. The DS 5LS was a China-only compact executive sedan, manufactured from 2014 to 2019 by the Changan-PSA joint venture.
The DS 5LS 60th Anniversary Limited Edition was a special edition launched in 2015. It celebrated 60 years of DS. It was a bit of a marketing stretch. Of course, DS only exists as a brand since 2009. The year 1955 refers to the launch of the original Citroen DS. No matter how stretched, we love special editions at CoolCarsInChina!
The DS 5LS 60th Anniversary Limited Edition had DS 5LS 60 DS1955 stickers on the front doors and on the back, and DS 5LS 60 DS1955 logos embroidered on the seats and on the floor mats. The classy Alcantara sports seats were exclusive for the DS 5LS 60th Anniversary Limited Edition.
An interesting choice, as the other DS models had standard leather seats. There was only one color available, called ‘Champagne Gold’. It was loaded with goodies like an electric sunroof, a CD/DVD player, a leather steering wheel, and automatic air conditioning.
The engine was unchanged: a 1.6 turbo ‘THP 160’ four-cylinder petrol unit with an output of 163 hp and 240 Nm. Horses went to the front wheels via a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The top speed was 205 km/h and 0-100 took 8.8 seconds. The DS 5LS 60th Anniversary Limited Edition cost 205.800 yuan. That made it the most expensive model of the DS 5LS range. Worth the money? Sure! It is very rare, only sold in 2015, and it has cool stickers. DS also sold similar 60th Anniversary Limited Editions of the DS 5 and the DS 6.
Characters: 长安禘艾仕, Changan Di’aishi. Changan is the Chinese partner in the joint venture. The official trade name of the joint venture was 长安标致雪铁龙, Changan Biaozhi Xuetielong, which literally means Changan Peugeot Citroen. The English name of the joint venture was Changan-PSA.
However, the cars were badged as Changan Di’aishi. The latter part, Di’aishi, is a phonetic translation of DS. It was a strange name, the more so because it wasn’t really used in China. For all marketing and branding purposes, the DS brand simply used the letters ‘DS’. Anyway, this kind of naming weirdness is quite typical for China.
Sadly, the DS brand didn’t fare well. Chinese consumers didn’t know what to make of it. They saw it as an over-expensive Citroen, without much to justify the higher price. After years of disappointing sales, the joint venture was shut down in 2020. Even the 60th Anniversary Limited Edition couldn’t save the day.