Further minor external modifications for the October 1953 Motor Show included updated door handles and a change to the badge on the car's nose.

The motif on the little shield was still diamond-shaped, but within the diamond, the image of a three-masted frigate ("frégate") had been replaced by a tiny outline map of mainland France containing the inscription "RNUR-France".

[5] Neither of these stripped-down versions were well received by customers: in the Frégate's case, this was one of several attempts to make the model more competitive that failed to shake Citroën's dominance of the French market for large family cars.

In 1957 a three-speed 'Transfluide' semi-automatic transmission, incorporating a fluid coupling, became an option along with a slightly more powerful version of the 2141 cc engine producing 80 PS (59 kW) due to a compression ratio increase from 7.0:1 to 7.5:1.

[3][9] Citroën reinforced their domination of the market for larger saloon cars in 1955 with the introduction of the futuristic DS, followed in 1957 by its more aggressively priced ID variant.

Some were content to blame the excessive number of teething troubles in the early models, the car's lack of power and, especially during the second half of the decade, the superior attractions of the Citroën offerings: but some commentators also draw attention to a very French political dimension.

Many members of the (still relatively small) haute-bourgeoisie class able to afford such a car were simply more comfortable buying from a private manufacturer, especially after the Peugeot 403 was added to the Frégate's competitors.

At the end of the decade Charles de Gaulle returned to power as president in 1958, and he was an unapologetically partisan fan of the Citroën DS, as newsreels of the period attest.