Polestar makes the Polestar 3 at a factory in South Carolina and warned last year that any sales ban would “halt the operations of a lawfully organized American company with significant American investments.”
“The US is an important market for us,” Kim Palmer, Polestar's head of PR, tells WIRED. Palmer suggests the specifications of non-Chinese software and other materials, adding: “We are at an advanced stage of adapting our future models to ensure they comply with regulations in hardware, software and suppliers.”
Nevertheless, Lohscheller may have to ask the Trump administration for a dispensation to sell its US-made cars in the US. Trump's antipathy towards electric cars is well known, but it is unclear how much of US EV policy will be influenced by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“It is an unusual conflict of interest to see the CEO of Tesla involved in any way in EV policy for the entire country,” said Peter Wells, professor of business administration and director of the Center for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in Wales, UK. “There is enormous potential [for Musk] to rewrite the rules to suit Tesla's best interests.”
If this turns out to be the case, it could be very difficult for Polestar to obtain dispensation. Perhaps that is why Lohscheller emphasized Polestar's pivot to France in his presentation. A trademark dispute with Citroen – the company claimed the Polestar logo was too similar to its own – previously prevented Polestar from selling in the French market.
However, there is a potential downside. Potential Polestar buyers are not yet eligible for the French EV subsidy. “Polestar is not on the list of companies approved by France to qualify for their environmental bonus,” Wells said. “That doesn't mean they can't participate in it in the future, but if they can't qualify for that program, they have an incentive problem.”
Lochscheller said 2024 was a transition year for Polestar and the company would now return to a more traditional dealer-based sales model.
“A lot of things need to change,” Lochscheller said, “starting with sales and distribution. I call it from showing to actively selling. The company has done a good job establishing the direct-to-consumer baseline, now the key task is to ensure active sales through retail partners improve.” So more showrooms, and less dependence on online sales – old-fashioned thinking.
“Us [retail] the footprint is growing,” said Lochscheller, citing that there are now 25 Polestar showrooms in Sweden, 20 more than last year, and 20 showrooms in the UK, compared to eight last year.
“Expanding dealer sales will allow Polestar to reach more customers, increasing overall sales volume,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, publisher of the Kelley Blue Book vehicle appraiser, told WIRED. “Customers are more likely to invest in a brand they can interact with and trust,” she says.
Wells agrees: “Polestar, under new leadership, is finally going to focus on being better at retail and being better at capturing revenue. They're going back to the traditional [automotive] sales model and presenting itself to consumers in a less exotic way.”
Lochscheller, Wells says, is instilling in Polestar a “sense of conservatism, an attempt to cut costs, increase volumes, adopt a more traditional marketing strategy and generate enough revenue to survive.”
Polestar cars are available in 27 countries. Production of the Polestar 4 will start in South Korea in the second half of 2025. The Polestar 5, a Porsche Taycan-rivaling GT, will be available later this year and is built on the brand's first bespoke EV architecture. The proposed Polestar 7 could do well in the US, Streaty claims. “Developing a car in the premium compact SUV segment is a smart move,” she says.
With breakeven still at least two years away, Polestar will likely need additional financing to reach profitability. But Polestar – depending on the support of its eventual Chinese owner – may not get two years, Wells claims. “The Chinese EV market is booming, but there is a lot of competition, with rampant price cutting. The risk for Polestar is that their financial support may not last long. Polestar could be an extravagance too far for Geely. Market conditions move faster than companies' strategic plans.”
