Care to wager on the brand PSA will choose for North America? If the effort put forth by the Peugeot Design Lab team, for the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland is any indication, Peugeot will come out the winner. The company has produced a monumental sculpture of the famous Peugeot emblem, which will be one of the attractions at the Peugeot booth commencing March 8th.
PSA’s press release positions it like this:
Representing the “pride, strength and excellence of the brand” today two hundred years old, this lion measuring 12.5 meters long and 4.8 meters high, pays tribute to the original emblem of the brand for 160 years.
The emblem of the lion profile on an arrow, symbol of the qualities of Peugeot saw blades (flexibility, teeth strength and speed of cutting), was registered in 1858 by Émile Peugeot and has stayed with the manufacturer ever since. This reinterpretation of the lion figure by the Peugeot Design Lab wants to reflect what has become today the French brand.
“Stylists have instilled an identity and timeless design into this monumental Lion, with smooth and sculpted surfaces,” explained Gilles Vidal, director of Peugeot’s style. “Its spectacular dimensions accentuate the solid, powerful and immutable character of the Lion. His posture, standing, advancing with determination but without aggressiveness, is a pledge of serenity and confidence in the future.
If one brand is to be touted here in North America when PSA does begin importing vehicles again, it would appear that the iconic Peugeot lion is being set-up to be the visible entity. As the automobile manufacturing industry undergoes significant change in the next few years, PSA will undoubtedly be challenged to trim its brands. Now, with the company carrying Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall, their push to establish the Lion as their emblem, this move seems to signal its dominance over their other brands.
It should be a safe bet that Citroën and the DS brands are are going to be spared in exercising any subservience for at least the next 18 months in order celebrate the 100th anniversary of Citroën, but after the hoopla dies down the reality of PSA’s corporate bottom line may take precedent and the chances of seeing double chevrons on any new vehicles in Canada and the USA – are a very slim bet indeed!