AUTONEWS

Volvo gives up on Polestar

Polestar had everything to be a success, as it could count on Volvo's know-how, with regard to the design and production of safe and luxurious vehicles, as well as Geely's electrical technology, which ensures access to advanced platforms for battery models, accumulators, motors and software, everything needed to manufacture electric vehicles. And to this we add modern factories full of dedicated and… cheap employees.

But although it has everything going for it, Polestar is unable to manufacture its cars, despite currently only producing 2, let alone selling them in quantity. Or, at least, get the forecasts right, since the 2022 objectives were largely missed, repeating the “dose” in 2023. Investing a lot and selling little generates losses and, to avoid bankruptcy, implies that the shareholders – Volvo and Geely, with the Chinese also controlling the entire Swedish brand – have to cover the brand's needs, an action that is also known as “filling the holes”.

Volvo had enough, especially since Polestar's poor results were harming its own. That's why he made it known that he was getting rid of his share in the young manufacturer, transferring his shares to Geely (and his deep pockets). And the proof that the recipe worked was confirmed by the positive reaction of Volvo's investors on the stock exchange, as the value of the Swedish brand's shares soared by 40% after the announcement.

If Volvo found a quick solution to its problem, which had been going on for over a year, it is still strange that Polestar is unable to overcome the problems that affect it. And that has nothing to do with the quality of its vehicles, as at the moment it only sells the Polestar 2 in Europe which, in this latest version, is much more interesting and very competitive. And then it promises to soon start sales of the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, more advanced trams, with specific platforms, capable of raising the bar even further, with 2024 expected to be the year in which the brand's performance will finally prove itself his value.

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