Recently, Citroen, a French automobile manufacturer, accused Polar Star of infringing its herringbone logo and demanded that Polar Star stop selling its products in the French market. At present, the Paris court has ruled that Polaris constitutes infringement, requiring it to pay a fine of 6.5438+0.5 million euros, and prohibiting its sale in France within six months. Uncle Che personally thinks Citroen is a bit unreasonable, and the polar LOGO is nothing like Citroen. Is there a requirement for the order of placement?
Look carefully, Citroen's logo is two "people" stacked together. This is to commemorate that Andre Citroen obtained the cutting patent of herringbone gear processing from Poland in 1900. The logo of Polaris is two opposite "V", so you can judge the similar geometry of the two logos by yourself. Anyway, Uncle Che thinks Polaris is so unfair! In other words, Chery is suspected to be in finidi, Changan is eulogizing, Jianghuai is in Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai is in Honda. !
No way, Citroen insisted on suing Polaris, and the local court supported Citroen's appeal, which was obviously unfair, biased and obvious local protectionism. Moreover, if the two sides can't reach an agreement, the local sales ban of Polar Star in France will be extended. Many people in the industry said that the similarity between the trademarks of the two sides is not high, and Citroen's appeal is more like a "touching porcelain" full of blows and local protectionism. In Uncle Che's view, it is not "like" but "yes"!
In fact, it is not the first time that PSA Group has done this. A typical case before was that Peugeot forced Porsche to change its name from 90 1 to 9 1 1. In the first half of 2020, the global sales volume of PSA Group was 6,543,800+0,300 vehicles, down 46% year-on-year, with China market and European market leading the decline. You can't win the fair market competition, but you are a good lawyer!
Although Polaris is beaten, it is really not something that honest people can bully. After receiving the verdict, Polaris quickly closed the French official website to show its attitude. I don't want your small market, I don't want it, I don't want service, go and play by yourself!
Although it is a new energy vehicle and a brand-new brand, Polaris has a gratifying development momentum in Europe. In July this year, Polar Star was officially delivered to users in the European market at its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. According to public information, in Norway and Sweden, Polestar? 2 Sales exceed Tesla models? 3. European consumers (especially Nordic consumers) are much more interested in Polaris than China consumers, while PSA is trapped in the China market, but rarely reflects on its own reasons.
It is reported that Polaris's sales network covers 9 countries around the world and operates 23 "Polaris Spaces". In the future, Polaris will also enter the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, and the number of "Polaris Spaces" will increase to 45.
At present, Polaris has 12 experience stores in China, and it is still expanding its distribution outlets. At the beginning of this year, Li Shufu went to Gothenburg to attend the work report of Volvo's board of directors. I believe Polaris is not difficult to make efforts with Li's attention and Volvo's accumulation and precipitation in China.
Che Shu's conclusion
Uncle Che hated the punishment of Polaris. Using local protectionism to suppress competitors is tantamount to villains, and it is not a bad thing for Polaris to stay away from such a market. On the other hand, from a global perspective, local protectionism in individual countries can only delay competition, can not change the long-term competitive situation, and can not suppress the upward trend of high-quality enterprises. Uncle Che is very optimistic about Polaris and expects it to bring more surprises in the future.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.