AUTONEWS

Polestar continues to slip in sales

After a 2024 in which it recorded the worst sales in its short history, Polestar, with the help of a new CEO, promises a growth cycle anchored in a reinforced range of electric models.

With Michael Lohscheller at the helm, the new CEO who joined in mid-2024 after having led Opel, VinFast and Nikola, Polestar seems committed to improving its commercial performance and forgetting the past. If, in 2022 and 2023, the Chinese group Geely's brand only had the model 2 to sell, having sold 50,510 and 52,798 units, respectively, in 2024 and already with the reinforcement of the 3 and 4 (at the end of the year), the Polestar sold only 44,851 units, a drop of 15% compared to the previous year, with the manufacturer's behavior being reflected in the evolution of its value on the stock exchange (NASDAQ), where it fell 80% in the last 3.5 years.

Lohscheller wants to approach 2025 with a new mindset, but also with greater commercial efficiency, in order to achieve average annual growth of between 30% and 35%, from 2025 to 2027. In addition to new working methods, dealerships will also grow by 75%. in space by 2026, starting with France, which the CEO considers a key market.

Offering at the beginning of 2025 the models 2, 3 and 4, in which the 2 and 4 are manufactured in China and the 3 both in China and in the USA, from where they are exported to Europe and, therefore, exposed to taxes additional — especially those coming from the Chinese market — Polestar has a range of electric models with pleasant lines, good autonomy and competitive prices. This makes it even harder to understand why Volvo sold 175,744 electric vehicles in 2024, while Polestar came in at 52,798.

Later this year, the brand will introduce the 5, a sports coupe sedan that aims to compete with the Porsche Taycan, and a year later the 6, a roadster version of the 5, will be released. But, commercially, the biggest news should be the arrival at the stands of the 7, a compact SUV that competes with the Audi Q4 e-tron and which will be the most accessible in the line, potentially helping to significantly increase the automaker's sales. Mainly because the 7, scheduled for 2027, should be the first to be manufactured in Europe.

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