Interview with DS Automobiles Design Director Thierry Metroz

Having worked as the Director of the DS Design team for over nine years, Thierry Metroz has witnessed (and manoeuvred) many of the changes at DS Automobiles, including its current process of electrification as well as its unique design practices. We were happy to speak with Thierry about the new DS 7 that was unveiled on Monday, as well as his role at DS Automobiles and the brand’s design vision. 

You’ve been leading the design team at DS Design for many years now. What is the most fascinating part of your position?

I’m really passionate about my work – everything is fascinating in design. The extraordinary thing at DS is that we are constantly interweaving traditional savoir-faire from craftsmen and women who work with leather, sewing etc. and ancestral manual work with the digital era, new materials, 3D printing and more. So we are constantly mixing work that is very manual and human and technologies of the future like the DS Light Veil. This is the most exciting part of my job on the day to day, and what sums up the spirit of DS quite well. 

What do you think sets apart DS Automobiles as a luxury vehicle brand? Can you talk a bit about how French savoir-faire is integrated into these more digital and avant-garde design practices?

The coupling of these two facets I just mentioned first comes through the way in which we work. The way that the design centre at DS is organised is very distinct, especially for the mobility world, in that we run sort of like an agency or a start up. All the designers –  whether they are doing interior, exterior, lighting, wheels or anything else – all work on the same floor. 

So we’re organised in quite a surprising way: digital modellers are working next to clay modellers, and interior designers with exterior designers. This allows for constant exchanges, which of course stimulates creativity but also allows for a consistent exchange of tools and resources. If we’re looking for example at a VR model, ten minutes later we’ll be looking at the clay model and then at the colours and materials and so on. Secondly, I think another unique aspect of DS is our ambition to embody the French luxury savoir-faire within the mobility sector. 

We have a dream of being the Louis Vuitton of the mobility industry, and that starts with our luxury savoir-faire. Since the start of the company we have formed relationships with all the French luxury houses like Chanel, Lesage , Lemarié etc. and we have contacts with Vuitton and Hermes, and this allows us to enrich our creativity and exchange with them about new materials, practices etc., so this is a whole web we have created. 

What kind of innovations and opportunities is electrification bringing about at DS Automobiles?

We are at the beginning of the story of electrification at DS. Because the European institutions are making it mandatory – they decided that by 2035 we wouldn’t be allowed to manufacture thermal vehicles, and we are using that as an opportunity to reinvent new concepts and platforms. So we can reimagine the cockpit without the traditional configuration of the motor, gearboxes etc. and so there is a true revolution that is coming with the interiors of the future. This is of course linked to the architecture of electric vehicles but also to connected vehicles with the arrival of AI, driving assistants, and autonomous driving which is coming in a few years. All of that is completely changing the rapport between the driver, the passengers and the vehicle. 

With time, it will less be about driving the car and more about being driven by the car and letting it transport us through AI. At DS we also work on principles of first-class comfort rather than traditional automotive ideas primordially based on the driving – we speak more of serenity and are working on making screens disappear, new generations of seats with integrated media…And we are already working on these, so you will see them in a few years. For designers, all disruptions and constraints are opportunities to boost creativity and reinvent ourselves, so for us it’s always a great thing.

What is the most distinctive design feature of the interior/exterior of the DS 7?

Of course the new front of the new DS 7 is a big one, bringing it forward into the new and latest generations in terms of style and design. There is also the new light signatures which have always been the DS DNA that made it recognisable on the streets. We’ve taken this further with the new generation DRL which are fully integrated into the body and the vertical lines that were actually inspired from our last concept car, the Aerosport Lounge from 2020. So we applied this identity and these sketches from the concept car to this New DS 7. 

We also have new rear lights that are much thinner with a black chrome mask, which reinforces the contrast with the red. In the interior, we have new embossed leather which is a big innovation and also refines even further our interiors. Then we have the new Pearl interior which is just beautiful. Lastly, we also have a great partnership with our competitive teams at DS Performance who develop our Formula E vehicles, and they have also worked on lowering the body, larger wheels and a chain which all reinforce the dynamism of the car and the driving pleasure.

Pictures: DS Automobiles