The DS4 is facelifted, losing the Citroen and gaining a crossover

This is the new DS4. Notable not only for a handful of new features, but for the fact all the Citroen badges have been crowbarred from the old one during the restyling.
 
Yep, the DS4 carries on with the French firm’s mission to make DS a car brand in its own right. It remains a curio sat between a Nissan Juke and Qashqai in both size and price, however.
 
Personalisation is still key, a bunch of new hues and a two-tone option liberating 33 different colour combinations.
 
More interesting, perhaps, is the option of a new Crossback model, which aims to take a swipe at the crossover market with a 30mm hike in ride height and some plastic trim and roof bars.
 
DS rather optimistically describes these as ‘go-anywhere features’. It’s unlikely they morph the DS4 into a Defender rival, especially given the lack of all-wheel drive.
 
Yep, it remains a front-drive hatch, with six engines available. There are three diesels, the most frugal dipping under 100g/km, but the petrols are of most interest.
 
The excellent 128bhp three-cylinder from Citroen’s range is available, while if you crave more power, there’s a 210bhp 1.6 turbo, though we imagine only those with a tolerance to depreciation should consider the latter.
 
Over 115,000 DS4s have been sold since its 2010 introduction, though, so there’s undoubtedly a fanbase for slightly poshed-up hatchbacks. And new additions to the car shouldn’t diminish that.
 
An improved media system includes a 7in touchscreen, CarPlay and Mirrorlink (for easy phone linkups), while there are directional headlights (slightly tenuously linking back to the classic Citroen DS) and plenty of active safety stuff.
 
The new DS4 makes its public debut in a couple of weeks at the Frankfurt motor show, with sales starting in October. And no, you still can’t open the back windows…