Polestar not worried about Volvo rivalry or electric car promises by combustion rivals: 'We're selling everything that hits the ground'

Speaking to CarsGuide at an event in Sydney, Swedish electric brand Polestar said it wasn’t fussed by competitive claims by its sister brand Volvo in Australia.

Volvo recently announced its plan to go all-electric early in Australia, earmarking 2026 as the date its lineup would be EV-only. This is ahead of the brand’s plans to be electric globally by 2030.

Volvo also said it considered its Polestar sister company a key rival in the Australian market, saying its product strategy was distinct.

“We don’t scrimp on safety for example, and our model range is simplified,” said Volvo’s Australian managing director, Stephen Connor, who also noted Volvo was able to lean on its physical dealer network to get an advantage with free charging locations for its EV buyers. “These will be free for our customers, free coffee, tea, and our plan is for these locations to be 24/7.”

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But Polestar’s managing director, Samantha Johnson, said it wasn’t fussed by Volvo’s early EV plans, nor was it worried about a local rivalry with its Swedish sister company.

“Polestar is its own brand, we are already pure EV, we don’t need to make promises about the future when it comes to electrification - we are focused on having a climate neutral car [without offsets] by 2030, halving emissions by 2030 annd being climate neutral by 2040.”

“We’re leading the way when it comes to tangibly achieving these goals, but are glad that others in the industry are following our lead.

“We don’t really compete with Volvo, we’re concentrating on running our own race, but we look at Tesla as more comparable to Polestar. Obviously with the Polestar 3 we’re looking to go somewhere else, to Porsche levels of pricing, and we’re a different brand with a different customer base.”

Polestar says it is glad other automakers are following its electric lead, but is more focused on competing with Tesla and Porsche in the short term.

The Polestar 2 continues to be in-line with Tesla Model 3 pricing, with the entry-level Standard Range Single Motor currently starting from $63,900 before on-road costs undercutting the entry-level Tesla Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive ($65,500) by a small margin.

Meanwhile, the Polestar 3, which CarsGuide can reveal will officially go on-sale in Australia in February of 2023, is targeting a pricetag in the realm of $135,000 for its single Long Range Dual Motor launch variant, as the brand chases buyers who would normally consider a performance-oriented combustion vehicle like the Porsche Cayenne.

As to wait times for Polestar models, don’t expect to see the Polestar 3 until Q1 of 2024, later if you order now, as Polestar says the expressions of interest have reached the thousands over a year out from its arrival, and the Polestar 2 has what the brand is calling a ‘reasonable’ wait time.

Polestar says its customers are different from those who might consider Volvo's next purely electric model, the EX90.

“It’s industry average,” Ms Johnson said. “Four to five months.”

Ms Johnson also noted things could change thanks to positive moves in Canberra.

“Our decision makers [in Gothenburg, Sweden] will be more likely to send us supply thanks to things like the national EV initiative,” she said.

Every Polestar 2 brought into Australia is finding a home.

“We’re delivering everything that hits the ground at the moment, and we’re still on-target to hit our goals in Australia, globally we’ve just produced the 100,000th Polestar 2.”

Polestar has a packed schedule until 2026, with the Polestar 3 large SUV being followed up by the Polestar 4 mid-sizer in 2024, the Polestar 5 GT car in 2025, and the Polestar 6 roadster in 2026.