Polestar makes the Polestar 3 at its South Carolina plant, and last year warned that the sales ban would “kill the operations of a legally regulated US company with substantial US investment.” “The US is an important market for us,” Kim Palmer, Polestar’s head of PR, told WIRED. Suggesting non-Chinese software specifications and other materials, Palmer added: “We are in the advanced stages of changing future models to ensure that they comply with regulations regarding hardware, software, and suppliers.” However, Lohscheller may have. to ask the Trump administration for a dispensation to sell US-made cars in the US. Trump’s antipathy toward EVs is well known, but it’s unclear how America’s EV policy will be influenced by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. ,” said Peter Wells, business professor and director of the Automotive Industry Research Center at Cardiff University in Wales, England. “There is great potential for Musk to rewrite the rules to suit Tesla’s best interests.” If this proves to be the case, it may be very difficult to Polestar got a dispensation. At the presentation, Lohscheller emphasized that a trademark dispute with Citroen—the company’s logo was similar to its own—prevented Polestar from being sold in the French market snafu. Those who will buy Polestar are not yet eligible for French EV subsidies,” Wells said. “You don’t say they can’t participate in the future, though if they can’t qualify for the scheme, they have an incentive problem.” Lochscheller says 2024 has been a transition year for Polestar, and now the company will return to a more traditional dealer-based sales model. I call from showing to active selling. The company has done a good job of setting a direct-to-consumer baseline, now the main task is to ensure that active sales through retail partners improve. More showrooms, then, and less reliance on online sales-old-school thinking [retail] footprint is growing,” said Lochscheller, citing the fact that there are now 25 Polestar showrooms in Sweden, 20 more than last year, and 20 showrooms in England, up from eight years ago. customers, thus increasing the overall sales volume,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights for Cox Automotive, publisher of Kelley Blue Book valuer vehicles, told WIRED. “Customers are more willing to invest in brands they can relate to and rely on,” he said. profits are going back to traditional [automotive] sales model and present consumers in a less exotic way. for life.” Polestar cars are available in 27 countries. Polestar 4 production will begin in South Korea in the second half of 2025. Polestar 5, Porsche Taycan-rival GT, will go on sale later this year and will be built on the brand’s first bespoke EV architecture. Polestar 7 the proposed could do well in the U.S. “Developing a vehicle in the premium compact SUV segment is a smart move,” he said.With break-even still at least two years away, Polestar will need funding But Polestar—depending on the support of its Chinese owners—may not have two years, claims Wells. The risk for Polestar is that financial support may not last. Polestar might be too extravagant for Geely. Market conditions are faster than the company’s strategic plans.
Polestar Has Bold Plans—Only to Sell More Cars
