Production of the DS 4 and DS 5 will end by the end of this year, as DS Automobiles begins a transition period towards a new model range, the carmaker has confirmed.

The DS 5 and DS 4 will end production later this year.

It comes as DS launches its first SUV, the DS 7 Crossback, in the UK, and reduces the range to two models, alongside its long-standing best-seller, the DS 3 supermini. Starting from 2018, the brand will introduce one new model every year, including a plug-in hybrid DS 7 Crossback in 2019.

However, it has yet to confirm when the DS 4 or DS 5 will be replaced. It’s likely that the DS 4 will be the priority in Europe; SMMT data shows 9,082 DS models were registered in the UK last year, a 42.9% decline on the 15,898 in 2016, and the premium C-segment presents a significant growth opportunity for the brand.

The decision had seemed likely; Citroën culled the C4 hatchback – a close relation of the DS 4 – at the end of last year, re-aligning the C4 Cactus to fill its space in the range. Meanwhile, the DS 5’s production line in Sochaux, France, is now focused on building cars on the new EMP2 modular platform; the 308, 3008, 5008. The outgoing Peugeot 508, with which the DS 5 shared a platform, has just been replaced with an EMP2-derived version, revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.