Polestar Motors was sued by Citro?n for trademark infringement, and the recall and sales ban may make it face more uncertainty in Europe.

A few days ago, French automaker PSA (Peugeot Citro?n) sued Polestar Motors for infringing its use of the chevron logo and asked the latter to stop "sales" in France. At present, the Paris Court has ruled that Polestar Automobile constitutes infringement and imposed a six-month sales ban and required it to pay a fine of 150,000 euros.

In this regard, industry insiders believe that the similarity between the two parties' trademarks is not high, and Citro?n's appeal is more like a "porcelain" full of attack and local protectionism.

"I personally feel that the car logos are not very similar, and the so-called collision is nonsense." Bai Yiyang, Research Department of CMB International, told Caijing.com Auto.

Automotive analyst Zhang Xiang also believes that the logo of Polestar Motor is not very similar to the logos of Citro?n and DS, but it will have a great impact on the future market promotion of the former.

As early as July 2019, Citro?n sued Polestar Motors for alleged infringement of its logo. At the time, the court rejected Citro?n's infringement claim, finding that the two logos had "weak similarity" and "the layout of the chevrons was different." In October this year, the Paris Court held that the infringement was established based on the opinions of online netizens.

In 2017, Volvo acquired the Swedish modified car brand Polestar and made it independent in 2019. In March this year, Geely and Volvo jointly established the electric vehicle brand "Polestar". While clarifying the brand positioning, Geely also established production bases for Polestar in Chengdu and Taizhou.

According to Geely, Polestar Motors will be "a high-end brand headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, with R&D in Sweden and the United Kingdom, production and manufacturing in China, and products for the global market." Therefore, although the domestic market is tepid, in the European market, Polestar was once considered a potential rival of Tesla.

In July this year, Polestar was officially delivered to European users. Norwegian OFV data shows that Polestar 2 sales in August were 504 units, while Tesla Model 3 sales were only 264 units; Swedish BIL data showed that Polestar 2 sales in August were 284 units, exceeding Model 3 sales. 3 of 235 vehicles.

According to Reuters, as of September this year, Polestar’s sales network is distributed in 9 countries and operates 23 “Polestar Spaces”. Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar Automotive, said that by the end of the year, the number of "Polestar Spaces" will increase to 45, and new markets will also be explored in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.

At present, the French official website of Polestar Motors shows that "Due to the territorial restrictions of French trademarks (No.: 016898173 and No.: 01689532), the French public cannot access the Polestar website." Foreign media believe that the Polestar website was originally scheduled to The Polestar car, which was unveiled in France at the end of 2020, "sales are facing obstacles." The French media The Connexion said that it is not ruled out that Citro?n will appeal again through the EU to ban the sale of Polestar across Europe.

Zhang Xiang believes that the Polestar, which has just started deliveries in Europe, is currently performing well. This trademark case has caused a big blow to Polestar's sales in France. "This time Citro?n won the lawsuit. "If Polestar wants to continue to develop in Europe, it may have to change its logo or name, but the losses will be relatively large." Bai Yiyang believes that this time the French court made a judgment against Polestar. The direct impact remains at the French level, and is more like an act of protectionism. Judging from sales volume, Polestar's consumer awareness in Northern Europe is still very good, and it is expected to continue to expand the European market in the future. I believe that this ban will only delay Polestar's advancement in France and will not have a greater impact. .

In addition to the uncertainty about trademarks and promotions, Polestar seems to be experiencing a word-of-mouth crisis.

In early October, Polestar announced in Europe that it was recalling 2,189 Polestar 2 vehicles that had been delivered. The reason was that there was a hidden danger in the battery energy control module, which may cause the vehicle to suddenly lose power while driving.

Recently, Polestar issued another recall statement, including 4,596 vehicles related to power inverter problems and 3,150 vehicles related to battery pack coolant heater problems. Electrek said that Polestar has recalled almost all Polestar 2s delivered worldwide.

Looking at PSA Group, from the perspective of sales, the overall situation is not optimistic. Data shows that as of the end of 2018, the total global inventory of the three brands Peugeot, Citro?n and DS reached 485,000 units, an increase of 40,000 units year-on-year. In 2019, PSA Group's global car sales were 3.5 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 9.4%.

In the first half of 2020, PSA Group sold 1.03 million vehicles globally, a year-on-year decrease of 46%. Among them, the decline rates in the two major markets, China and Europe, were as high as 42% and 47% respectively.

Whether it’s a matter of “collision” or “protecting the local market”, there are many cases such as PSA suing Polestar for infringement. The most famous one is Peugeot forcing Porsche to change the name of 901 to 911. What is certain is that as the automotive electrification revolution advances, whether it is PSA Group, Geely, or other traditional car companies, their respective markets are facing encroachment by Tesla.

“This kind of protectionist behavior through influence can only delay competition, but cannot change the long-term competitive landscape.” Bai Yiyang believes that “new energy vehicles have entered the era of product competition, and companies still have to focus on To build products.”

This article is from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.