It’s not all bold black and gold when it comes to DS Penske right now.
The multifaceted answers to questions in Formula E are not particularly exceptional, although it is one of the most complex topics in the case of auto giant Stellantis and the Formula E operation at Team Penske.
The alliance between DS Automobiles and the eponymous organisation founded by Jay Penske began at the start of the third generation era of Formula E in late 2022.
He tasted early success with Jean-Eric Vergne’s win at the Hyderabad EV race, but that hasn’t been revisited for more than 18 months. It’s a rather weak early legacy for Penske.
It wasn’t far behind Porsche and Jaguar but with customer teams Envision and Andretti in the mix, it was a case of ‘best of the rest’ for DS Penske.
The partnership between the two entities has been fraught with personnel issues with a high turnover of people, most of whom moved from the DS Techeetah team that won five titles, two for Vergne, one for Antonio Felix da Costa and two for the team, between 2018 and 2020.
Part of that was undoubtedly the arrival of former Jaguars technical director Phil Charles, who was called up and lured by Penske at the end of 2023.
Charles joined the team ahead of the São Paulo E-Prix in March, and by the end of the season, several staff members had left, some more publicly than others. In particular, former race strategy chief Clement Aillaud took to LinkedIn to whisper in a dark voice that “this team and its spirit are being torn apart today, so I have decided to leave.
“I know the future will be bright and exciting somewhere else very soon, I know the kind of people I want to work with, and I know that racing and performance can be done with a smile and a family spirit.”
With a number of former DS Techeetah team members leaving, including team principal Nigel Beresford and Jean-Eric Vergne engineer Thibaut Arnal, the landscape will be very different next season. It has to be because, frankly, it wasn’t a happy place for much of last season.
Charles is certainly a tough guy to deal with. Coming to Formula E after stints at Renault and Toro Rosso (above, left), he clearly has a mindset dedicated to pushing the teams he works with to the limit and demanding success.
He did it at Jaguar, and he’s clearly determined to do it again at DS Penske. These changes are likely to be just the beginning of more that will likely affect at least DS Automobiles’ future in Formula E.
Although Penske is a bit concerned about its long-term future, the model itself of working with the manufacturer and leveraging its expertise and technical resources seems strong enough. For now.
Where is DS going?
For DS Automobiles, the future after the third generation was seriously questionable. It missed the deadline for registering the fourth generation, although it still had time to be part of the scene alongside Mahindra and possibly ERT.
It’s now been a decade since the brand was fully launched, or relaunched if you count the iconic 1955 Citroen DS, and nine years since DS Performance teamed up with Virgin Racing for the second season of Formula E when powertrain freedom was granted.
Xavier Mistral-Pinon was initially in charge of technical affairs at the FIA, as was his successor at DS Performance, Thomas Chevoscher, who joined his former FIA boss at the start of 2024.
His replacement was Eugenio Franzetti, who told The Race in Portland in June that a decision on DS’s future involvement in Formula E would not come until after the end of the 2023-24 season.
“We’re working on that and doing all the simulations in terms of cost and return on investment, which is very, very important,” Franzetti said.
“We are trying to analyze all possible scenarios and this is good news because we are working on it.”
Part of that will be DS’ analysis of where Formula E might be in the future and all the KPIs it could shape and reach, something that, like all other manufacturers in recent seasons, has caused concern.
“It is also important that Formula E provides us with all the information about the value of the return on investment, the value of the vision,” added Franzetti.
“Because motorsport is a marketing tool. So, in terms of the marketing tool, the visibility value that the championship has today and the visibility value that the championship will have tomorrow is part of the analysis that we have to do.”
The value of vision is crucial for DS. Parent company Stellantis reported net revenues up 6% year-on-year to €189.5 billion for 2023, and net profit up 11% to €18.6 billion. Its global sales of battery electric vehicles are up 21%, with European sales data showing DS Automobiles sold just under 50,000 vehicles in 2022.
France remains DS’s best market. However, the brand is lagging behind in the UK, where its 2023 new car sales showed a -34.59% year-on-year decline, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers.
Its business in China has essentially ended after the joint venture with Changan was discontinued and it was notified of the end of its manufacturing in the country last year.
It was around the same time that DS confirmed it would become an exclusively electric brand this year, with its CEO, Beatrice Foucher, who has attended several E-Prixs, saying that “the next developments in legislation and the EV system provide the opportunities we want to offer to our customers who already love our electric range.”
“I have taken the decision to accelerate the development process to create a new 100% electric travel art, desirable in terms of enjoyment and outstanding in terms of quality and performance: a new travel art, characterized by constant high technology and still equally advanced. It is a bold plan that will take shape from 2024,” they added.
Does this automatically mean DS will continue in Formula E? No. Does this mean DS has a better chance of survival? Maybe.
Formula E has already taken on Nissan, Porsche and Jaguar, the big three manufacturers, and that could help determine Stellantis’ next decision.
But like Mahindra, it feels like a real 50/50 at the moment, a middle ground between not being here and not being there. Not too dissimilar to DS’s last two seasons on the track in Formula E.
Where is Bensky going?
Despite some friction and changes, Penske will continue to implement its deal through the end of the 2025-26 season, but the chances of renewing it to the fourth generation after one year are said to be slim.
If the DS continues into the fourth generation, it is believed that this will be a big deal. if Nowadays, another Stellantis brand may emerge that will be compatible with Penske.
Names like Abarth and Dodge have been filling the Formula E circuit over the past few months, with the latter thought to be the most likely. But Abarth is less likely to make an appearance as Maserati is thought to be on track for its fourth generation, meaning having two Italian Stellantis brands in the same series wouldn’t make sense.
The iconic muscle car company Dodge has a reasonably diverse racing heritage, winning numerous NASCAR championships from the 1950s through 2012, the latter coincidentally with Team Penske.
It also powered the single-seat Barber Pro Series that was produced in North America from 1995 to 2003, and the iconic Viper will be a familiar sight to sports car enthusiasts through the original model in the 1990s and 2000s, and the newer model that was re-launched in the 2010s.
The American brand recently struck a deal to use the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat as a safety car in the MotoGP World Championship, and it also competes in drag racing. Dodge also unveiled its first all-electric car, the Dodge Charger Daytona, earlier this year.
Penske is also known to have spoken to Hyundai in recent months, and while the Korean manufacturer is believed to favour the future hypercar programme it has long been linked to, it could still do so in conjunction with its Formula E programme if it is with an existing operator.
What makes these future possibilities even more practical is that Penske recently established a new facility in Witney, UK.
Penske Autosport Research Labs Limited was founded in July, but has seen a lot of activity in its development since Charles joined in March.
The race understands that the facility is primarily a private space for projects involving a simulator but is not currently believed to be a core part of Penske Formula E’s plans moving forward.
This could turn into something more active in the future, and the assumption should be that Pinsky and Charles are preparing for a potential shift toward the fourth generation.
Whether it’s with the Stellantis brand, a giant like Hyundai, or even as its own technology generator, Penske is in Formula E all the time, there’s no doubt about it.
