My impression--
DS bikes are indeed growing in popularity, KTM has the best off the showroom floor suspension and offer the largest range of plate-able ready dirt bikes. BMW got out in front of the DS (or in their words, GS) crowd. The closest DS that is ADV capable would be the Yamaha Tenere, the 'Stroms can do off road, but in smaller chunks. The KLR? Some changes, but still way short in the suspension department and it is hard to get excited about a KLR, it has been proven to be the best bang for the buck over and over but???
Why is the DS growing? Well, far more unpaved roads and the destinations these roads offer in mind boggling.
I think the Japanese brands will wake up quite soon, offer smaller (650 class) ADV bikes purpose built and more off road capable. I predict Yamaha will be the biggest Jap brand, improving the WR and bringing the XT660 to North America (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_XT660Z_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9 )
Truth be known? Very few ADV bikes ever see anything beyond a well groomed forest road. There is more sex appeal in owning a euro brand all kitted out with huge panniers, massive lights and many farkles from Touratech. Oh, and lets not forget the stickers.
To sum it up, I don't see anything out there that will compare to my F800GS in terms of useability across the board, on road or off road. My last bit will be the rear shock, which in the end will give me about a 1/2" more clearance than a KTM 990.