Crumpled by a logo deemed too similar, Citroën had sued Polestar, a car manufacturer owned by the Geely group. Finally, the parties seem to have reached an agreement, ending the procedure. Polestar can therefore set out to conquer the French market.
It’s the newspaper The world who revealed the (good) news. The car manufacturers Citroën (Stellantis group) and Polestar, owned by the Chinese group Geely, have reached an agreement to end the legal squabble started by the French. As a Citroën spokesperson told our daily colleagues, “the complaints were withdrawn. The case is closed“. Nothing is known, however, of the content of this agreement.
Double chevron against North star
Formerly a sports division of Volvo, Polestar became a full-fledged brand specializing in electric vehicles from 2017. Remember that Volvo Car and Polestar belong to the Chinese group Geely, which also owns shares in Mercedes-Benz.
The troubles with Citroën began in 2018, when Polestar adopted a new logo: a stylized star reminiscent of the North Star. But by observing a little closer said logo, we notice a certain resemblance with the chevrons of Citroën, arranged one on the other while those of Polestar are vis-à-vis.
It was enough for Citroën and DS Automobiles to see red. The latter filed a complaint in 2019 with the Paris court, which refused to consider Polestar as a copier, but condemned the Sino-Swedish manufacturer for having “undermined the reputation of French brands“. As a result, a ban on marketing its vehicles in France and an order to pay €150,000 in damages.
Subsequently, the affair escalated when Citroën tried in vain to extend the sales ban to all of Europe. Polestar counterattacks by filing a complaint against the French for counterfeiting certain rims adapted to models sold in Europe.
What seems certain is that Polestar will be able to keep its logo and above all set out to conquer the French market, where other Chinese manufacturers are already at work – and are enjoying great success.
Following this agreement between the two parties, Polestar’s first action was to make its (Belgian) website accessible, until then blocked from France. It remains to know the strategy put in place by Polestar, whose electric vehicles are sold for more than €100,000…