Polestar 3 News

Rumours of Polestar’s demise are premature, according to the company’s global boss.Polestar’s recent financial results included some sobering details, including a billion-dollar loss that had some commentators questioning the long-term viability of the Geely Group-owned marque.But Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller put a positive spin on the results and said the reason for the massive financial loss was a result of the Chinese-built Polestar 3 no longer being able to be sold in the United States due to tariffs.“The reality is, there was a lot of very good financial news in the H1 results. Why do I say that? First of all, volume was up 51 per cent. Revenue was up 56 per cent. For the first time in the history of Polestar, we achieved a positive operating gross margin. Costs are coming down, and EBITDA losses are also reducing. So all operational indicators show in the right direction and we do the right things,” he explained.“Truth is, we had to impair the Polestar 3 very much driven by the US situation, and that's obviously a one-time impact we had to book. And that's why you get then the headlines like, hey, the losses are big. But I think if you split the story in the two pieces, operational performance is good. We do the right things, and that's the encouraging piece.”Lohscheller said Polestar has put in place some strategies to further protect itself from the Trump Administration's 100 per cent tariff on electric cars made in China, starting with manufacturing for the upcoming Polestar 7 compact SUV.“We will produce this car here in Europe in a Volvo plant in Slovakia, so it's close by. And of course, that makes a tonne of sense, because the majority of our volume is in Europe. Then we don't have to ship the cars around the world. The tariff problem is also then not there. Because you produce locally here in Europe, and then this will make life much easier,” he said.“We also want to go into segments which are bigger, right? So compact SUV segment is quite big, so we do the right things on that side too. And that helps us. At the same time, we have certain flexibility. We use also the Volvo plant in North America. We also use a factory of Renault and Geely in South Korea. And obviously we have the Chinese plant, right? So we have some flexibility, which I think is a very big competitive advantage too.”Sustainability is at the core of Polestar’s brand image and it has talked up transparency with annual public reporting of the sourcing and impacts of its supply chain and manufacturing facilities.Lohscheller said that laser focus on sustainability and transparency did not slow down model development, and in fact, it has resulted in positive outcomes for the company.“No, not at all. I think… it actually makes things easier, because we know that we have to go this way, right? So when we set up new factories, for example, or use factories of our partners, renewable energy is of highest importance. So I think it makes things a little easier, actually. And then the question is, okay, how can you translate that into also economic efficiency? But I think this direction makes it actually easier for us.”

Polestar is set to buck the trend of buttonless minimalist interior design with its next-generation models.

The Tesla Model Y has a monster month in September 2025.

Polestar has been on a sales rebound in 2025 after a disappointing result in 2024, but its most affordable upcoming compact SUV model is still years away.

Despite a less-than-ideal 30 per cent sales decline last year, Sino-Swedish electric car brand Polestar isn't burying its head in the sand, according to Scott Maynard, Managing Director of the brand’s local operations.Even as sister brands under the Geely umbrella, such as Zeekr, Volvo and Lotus, backflip on electric-only plans for more plug-in hybrids in response to softening EV demand, Polestar is staying true to its electric-only pledge.In fact, Maynard believes there are much bigger and better things to come in 2025 and beyond as Polestar grows its retail footprint and expands its offerings in Australia’s electric SUV market.“It wasn’t unexpected , in truth. With the incoming product of Polestar 3 and 4, we knew that there were a lot of customers holding off on a Polestar purchase,” he said.The brand has been carried by the Polestar 2 for three years since arriving in Australia, a mid-size electric sedan rivalling everything from the BMW i4 to the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal.Then, at the back end of last year, Polestar added an additional member, the Polestar 4, a coupe-like SUV closer in style to the Tesla Model Y – Australia’s top-selling EV.It clocked some 120 sales in December last year, far exceeding anything else in the brand’s catalogue, a feat which has Maynard anticipating strong returns in 2025.“We see huge potential, particularly in Polestar 4,” he said.Maynard stopped short of giving sales numbers projections for the brand in 2025 (last year Polestar sold 1713 cars), suggesting it was anyone’s guess with high interest rates and a challenging economic outlook.“I’m not putting a number on it yet because I’m really keen to see how the first half of the year plays out,” said Maynard.“Of course, we have to have internal planning numbers for budgets and that sort of thing, but I actually think the potential of those cars sits higher than we’re currently shooting.”It's an underlying confidence that is certainly matched by the head office in Gothenburg, Sweden, which recently announced a five-step plan to get back to profitability in 2025.Part of that plan involves growing the brand's global retail footprint by 75 per cent by 2026, increasing sales of carbon credits, expanding to new markets such as France and launching Polestar Energy – Polestar's charging network app.They're moves that couldn't be made without the support of the brand's Chinese parent company, Geely Group, which also owns Zeekr, Smart, Volvo and Lotus, though all are operated independently in Australia.Despite so many brands in Australia under Geely's ownership, Maynard is steadfast that Polestar is a unique brand competing in its own lane."We partner with Geely for investment, but we differentiate ourselves as a European brand with our heart and soul in Sweden."The brand is clearly drawing all of its design and inspiration from the design team based out of Sweden, and so we've got a pretty easy job to differentiate ourselves as a true, proper, luxury European brand."Another major part of Polestar's plan is introducing the Polestar 7, a compact electric SUV with a lower price point.“Polestar 7 is going to appeal to an Australian buyer, perhaps even more so than it does to Europe and some other markets,” said Maynard.“It is very much a key car for us and will provide us with a really lovely entry point to the brand, so to have an SUV style entry point to the Polestar brand that is 100 per cent Polestar, I think will be a really important addition to the model range.”Given the Polestar 5 GT — the brand’s first EV on its bespoke architecture — and the Polestar 6 roadster are expected to precede it, the Polestar 7 may not be in showrooms until closer to 2027.It's a long time to wait for a brand which hasn’t seen the quick sales success of upstart Chinese and American rivals, but one thing is for certain, Polestar is here for the long haul.

Many so-called “all-new” models aren’t all that new. In fact, a sizeable chunk are reskinned versions of what came before, with fresh sheetmetal over the same general hard points.

Polestar is set to get a sales boost in 2025 from its two new models, but the company admits it hasn’t been easy to build momentum with just one model on sale.The Geely-owned marque recently launched the Polestar 3 large SUV, quickly followed by the Polestar 4 medium coupe-style SUV, adding to the popular Polestar 2 mid-size sedan.The 2 has been Polestar’s sole offering since it launched in late 2021 but with two models in the SUV segment now available, that’s expected to increase.Polestar Australia Managing Director Scott Maynard acknowledged that only having one model to sell for the past three years has been a challenge, but said the Polestar 2 had been a great car to launch the brand with.“Limiting ourselves to what looks a lot like the medium sedan market has made for a bit of a difficult sell for Polestar, but the products are good. So Polestar (2) has been great, like it's been a really, really good car, and it's done a great job for Polestar,” he told CarsGuide.“Also the things that have been done to enhance that car, it's been life cycled really, really well, like they haven't just given it a series of nips and tucks. They've also increased battery capacity, charge times have improved, performance has improved, so it's evolved really well, and so that's made it easier.“But yes, it's lovely to now have a bit of a range, a broader product portfolio, and critically, a line into the medium and large SUV markets, which is critical in Australia.”Polestar’s Australian sales are down by close to 22 per cent to the end of October compared to the same period in 2023.However, Maynard said the EV specialist will see “a bit of a boost, maybe not straight away”, and detailed some of the reasons for the downward sales.“It's pretty clear to us from the pre orders that we've got on book that there were a lot of customers waiting to see what Polestar 4 would be like, customers wanting to see Polestar 3, and then, importantly, customers wanting to see both and compare the two.“And so we had expected just a bit of a rollback in straight order intake while those cars were heavily publicised and not yet available. And so now we've got them available, we would expect to see that start to pick up again.”Maynard declined to detail Polestar’s sales targets for the new models, but said the plan was to err on the side of caution when it comes to ordering and numbers.“We've got internal numbers, but we've been quite deliberate in setting those internal planning numbers quite modestly. We don't want to push those vehicles into an overstock position, so we're carefully controlling just how available and exclusive they are, and so I'm pretty confident we can overrun the internal numbers we've got.”Maynard said that the Polestar 4 is expected to become the brand’s top seller given its value proposition, sizing and packaging, and the fact that both grades slide in under the Federal Government’s Luxury Car Tax threshold.Up until recently, Polestar models have only been produced at Geely Group’s Chengdu, China factory, but the company is also going to produce the Polestar 3 in South Carolina in the USA, while the Polestar 4 will be produced at a new facility in South Korea.Maynard said that while the two new plants open up possibilities for the brand, it’s unlikely production for the Australian market will shift from China.“Cars will still come from China for now, but we've got the option then, if, for whatever reason, we need to source out of the US, or say out of Korea, then, yes, we’ve got the option of being able to pull out of there. But for now, it actually works best for us. China gives us the shortest lead time. It gives us the quick order to build. So it works really well for us at the moment.”

While a number of car brands backtrack on electric cars and embrace hybrids, one EV manufacturer has no plans to offer petrol-electric powertrains.Polestar only sells battery electric vehicles including the Polestar 2, 3 and 4 — with another couple on the horizon — but other carmakers have tweaked their electrification strategies in response to slowing demand for EVs globally.Hyundai Group, which includes Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, has launched a number of EVs across all brands but recently announced plans to increase hybrid offerings in response to market demands.Mercedes-Benz backflipped on its decision to drop plug-in hybrids from its range and will add PHEV grades to some of its popular models like the C-Class.MG, GWM, Honda, Nissan and Suzuki are all in on hybrids as brands try to cash in on what Toyota has known for a long time — hybrids sell.In Australia, EV sales continue to climb steadily on 2023, with this year up 6.7 per cent to 76,640 units. Meanwhile, hybrid registrations have skyrocketed by 83 per cent to just over 144,000 units, and plug-in hybrid sales have increased by 104 per cent to 18,000 units.Still, those numbers have not spooked Polestar Australia Managing Director Scott Maynard, who questions the green credentials of hybrid vehicles.“I don’t have any concerns about it, because our sustainability story still seems to be ringing true with lots and lots of people that choose our brand and a hybrid doesn't have that story,” he told CarsGuide at the recent Polestar 4 launch.“It's the worst of both worlds. You've got all of the complexity of jamming an electrical drivetrain into an engine bay that's already got a petrol or a diesel engine in it. You're still burning fuel. You've still got to dispose of the whole thing. It's not a green solution.“Yes, it burns… lots less fuel during its time. But it's not a clean solution at all, but it's a marketable one. And yes, people are capitalising on that for now. But it'll have its day, and then there'll still be those that will seek out the truly green alternative and a car that does have a lesser impact. And that's where EVs will rise again.”While Maynard is keeping the faith in electric cars, he acknowledged that the wider car market in Australia is a way off adopting EVs on a massive scale.“It will continue to work its way up to its natural position,” he said when asked what Australia’s EV market will look like in a few years time.“I don't think we're at a point yet where we could see a spot on the horizon where you’d say ‘we will be 100 per cent electrified by that point’. I don't think that point is visible to us. It's been called out a few times along the way, but not well, and I don't think that point is visible just yet.”Maynard added that different elements will nudge EV uptake and sales along, including improvements to charging infrastructure, the variation in product and schemes like the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).“As government incentives are lined up nationally, instead of this disparate state-based system, that'll nudge it along. NVES… will assist, which is the government's intent. So there'll be lots of little bits that will see it nudge up.”He highlighted challenges around countering misinformation about EVs, but is confident that Australia will see the environmental benefits of electric vehicles in the long run.“And so working against it are things like the continued spread of misinformation, and the talk about, ‘how long does a battery last, and is it actually serviceable?’ And all of those little bits and pieces that perhaps push back against it, from time to time, and so you know that toing and froing will determine just what its rate of climb is, but it will continue to climb.“And I think everyone can see that, for reasons of environmental sustainability, we need to get there. The pace at which we do it will probably spit and spurt, but we'll get there.”

At the recent Australian launch of the Polestar 3, CarsGuide spoke to Scott Maynard for one of his first media engagements as the head of Polestar Australia to see what the present and the near future looks like for the Swedish brand.

From next year, starting at $118,420 before on-road costs, the Polestar 3 Long Range Single Motor will join the existing Long Range Dual Motor and will boast the longest driving range of the model’s line-up.