Tag Archives: PSA

Polestar Banned From Using Its Logo In France For Six Months

The three-year legal dispute between Citroen and Polestar has resulted in a French court temporarily banning the latter’s logo.

As we have reported earlier, Citroen claims that the logo of Polestar is too similar to its own double chevron badge and that of its premium DS brand. The French carmaker first asked parent company Volvo to stop using the Polestar logo in 2017, but the Swedish company refused.

Read More: Polestar Sales In France Reportedly Being Blocked Over Trademark Dispute With Citroen

Polestar now confirmed to Autocar that there’s an ongoing legal case in France, with a company spokesperson adding: “Polestar does not operate in France and we currently have no plans to operate in France. There is an ongoing legal case in France concerning the use of the Polestar logo, initiated by Citroën.”

“Whilst we cannot comment on the details of the case, we strongly believe in the position of our brand and logo. We recognize that as a new, exciting car brand on the market with ambitious plans to raise the profile of electric mobility, we may gather attention from established automakers. The case only relates to France and does not apply to any other countries.”

Citroen first took their case to the European Intellectual Property Office with no success. A French court however sided with them, ordering Polestar to stop using their logo for six months, starting in July 2020, and pay €150,000 ($177k in current exchange rates) to the French carmaker, plus €70,000 ($82k) in legal fees.

It’s not clear yet what will happen when Polestar’s six-month logo ban will expire this January.

FCA CEO Mike Manley Excluded From Stellantis Board

The PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler have named the 11 members of Stellantis’ board of directors, with one notable absence. While PSA boss and future Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is on the board, FCA CEO Mike Manley was excluded.

As part of an agreement signed between PSA and FCA in December of 2019, the Stellantis board will only have two executive members, which will be Tavares and current FCA chairman, John Elkann.

Fiat Chrysler will reportedly announce Manley’s new role within Stellantis sometime “before the merger completion”, which is expected to close in Q1 of 2021.

Read: PSA Group Buys Back Shares From Dongfeng As Part Of FCA Merger Agreement

Elkan will also serve as chairman of the board, with Robert Peugeot, the head of the Peugeot family acting as vice chairman. Meanwhile, Andrea Agnelli, president of Italian soccer club Juventus and a member of the Agnelli-Elkann family, will be the second board member representing FCA in Stellantis.

Each carmaker ended up nominating five members in addition to Tavares, and of the 11 total, seven are considered independent, as reported by Autonews Europe. The senior independent director will be Henri de Castries, former CEO of AXA and a board member for multiple other companies, including Nestle.

The other six independent board members are: Fiona Clare Cicconi (FCA), Nicolas Dufourcq (PSA), Ann Frances Godbehere (PSA), Wan Ling Martello (FCA), Jacques de Saint-Exupery (PSA), Kevin Scott (FCA) – Dufourcq also happens to be the general manager of Bpifrance, the investment fund that holds 12% of PSA.

While Manley’s future new position is currently unclear, Tavares previously stated that the two have been communicating daily as they work towards completing the merger.

By joining forces, PSA and FCA are set to create the world’s fourth-largest carmaker by volume, after Toyota, VW and the Renault-Nissan Alliance.