Photo: Polestar
In June 2017, my colleague Mircea Panait announced that Polestar would become a standalone brand. He also asked: “Is it me or the Polestar badge looks like two Citroën chevrons facing each other?” At least he and Stellantis did. The carmaker sued Polestar and managed to block its sales in France. Polestar reacted and sued Citroën back. It seems the brands decided to stop fighting.
Le Monde said that the Stellantis brand reached a gentleman’s agreement with the Geely brand, and Polestar will be able to sell its cars in France. No details about the deal have been disclosed. However, Le Monde confirmed with Citroën that the lawsuit had been dropped.
Just to remind you of everything the two companies went through, Citroën sued Polestar in France and managed to block the sales of its EVs in 2020 due to the resemblance Mircea pointed out three years earlier.
DS joined that lawsuit to reinforce that Polestar would compete with it in the premium segment. After all, DS also presents the chevrons André-Gustave Citroën bought from a Polish carpenter and patented at the beginning of the 1900s. The Paris court that judged the lawsuit refused to consider Polestar guilty of trademark infringement.
Despite that, it ruled that the Swedish brand had "damaged the reputation of the French brands," imposing a payment of €150,000 ($149,340 at the current exchange rate) for such damages. Polestar appealed and sued Citroën for copying the design of some of its wheels in several European markets. Reinforcing the belief that attack is the best defense, the strategy seems to have worked for Polestar, which now can sell its EVs in Citroën’s home country.
Le Monde did not inform when Polestar will start operations there or the prices its vehicles will have on that market. We should hear about that soon from Polestar itself. One day, we may even learn about the negotiations that allowed this outcome, but we suspect it will take a while for that information to emerge.
Just to remind you of everything the two companies went through, Citroën sued Polestar in France and managed to block the sales of its EVs in 2020 due to the resemblance Mircea pointed out three years earlier.
DS joined that lawsuit to reinforce that Polestar would compete with it in the premium segment. After all, DS also presents the chevrons André-Gustave Citroën bought from a Polish carpenter and patented at the beginning of the 1900s. The Paris court that judged the lawsuit refused to consider Polestar guilty of trademark infringement.
Despite that, it ruled that the Swedish brand had "damaged the reputation of the French brands," imposing a payment of €150,000 ($149,340 at the current exchange rate) for such damages. Polestar appealed and sued Citroën for copying the design of some of its wheels in several European markets. Reinforcing the belief that attack is the best defense, the strategy seems to have worked for Polestar, which now can sell its EVs in Citroën’s home country.
Le Monde did not inform when Polestar will start operations there or the prices its vehicles will have on that market. We should hear about that soon from Polestar itself. One day, we may even learn about the negotiations that allowed this outcome, but we suspect it will take a while for that information to emerge.
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