Polestar

History

Racing team and tuning brand (1996–2017)

The company origins can be traced to the 1996 foundation of Flash Engineering, a Swedish racing team competing in Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC). The team was sold and rebranded as Polestar Racing, which began modifying Volvos for racing in the late 2000s. In 2009, the brand became the official Volvo partner to modify existing models, under the brand Polestar Performance. Volvo eventually bought the company in July 2015 and began selling Polestar-enhanced models directly through their resellers.

Polestar has also produced prototype cars, with the first being the C30 Polestar Performance Concept Prototype (2010) with over 400 bhp and 510 Nm.

The Volvo S60 Polestar Concept is the heir to the C30 Polestar, featuring 508 BHP from a modified T6 engine, launched in June 2012. The car sprints from 0 - in 3.9 seconds with a top speed of over 300 kph. Motor Trend tested the car at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where it broke the lap record for four-door cars, matching the lap time of an Audi R8.

Selection of petrol and hybrid powered Volvo-based Polestar models:

Standalone brand (2017–present)

In October 2017, Volvo Cars and Geely Holding announced that Polestar would become a standalone brand focusing on electric cars. The brand introduced the Polestar 1 on 17 October 2017, a 2+2 coupé inspired by Volvo's Concept Coupé introduced in 2013, which includes influences from the Volvo P1800. The Polestar 1 was built between 2019 and 2021, and was built in a new purpose-built Polestar Production Centre in Chengdu, China, from 2019 at a rate of up to 500 per year. During its final year of production, a limited-production gold-painted version of Polestar 1 was released. Only 25 units were produced.

In 2019, Polestar announced their second car, the Polestar 2 electric car. It was unveiled on 27 February 2019, in an online unveiling which was broadcast from the Polestar headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Directly after, it had its public debut at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. It is produced at Volvo Cars's existing plant in Taizhou, China. It received a mid-life refresh for its 2024 year-model, switching to a rear-wheel drive layout for its single-motor option, and various performance and cosmetic changes for the base model and performance package, respectively. It will also replace the existing front grille with a body-color front-end treatment that houses new safety hardware, including a front-facing camera and a new mid-range radar, matching the Polestar 3, dubbed the "SmartZone".

In March 2022, Polestar launched a roadster concept named the Polestar O2, and later in August 2022, Polestar announced a sixth new roadster model dubbed Polestar 6 based on the O2 concept car, expected to enter production in 2026.

In 2023, Polestar announced construction of its new headquarters – a 80000 m2 building in central Gothenburg.

In February 2024, Volvo (itself 79.5% owned by Geely at the time) announced that it would attempt to reduce its ownership stake in Polestar from 48% to 18%, by transferring of stock to its shareholders. This would result in PSD Investment (Geely founder Li Shufu's personal company) becoming the largest shareholder with at least a 39% stake. In April 2024, Geely Holdings became a major new shareholder, directly owning approximately 24% of Polestar. The free float also rose to about 18% of shares at that time, signifying that Volvo's February plan had been substantially realized.

In June 2025, Polestar announced a US$200 million equity investment by PSD Investment, an entity that is controlled by Li Shufu. Polestar sold more than 190 million Class A American depositary shares (ADS) to PSD Investment - which would make Li Shufu holds 44% of Polestar. The transaction would reduce Volvo Cars' stake in Polestar from 18% to 16%, with Geely and Li Shufu's stake increased to 66% combined.

Corporate Leadership

• Current:
• Winfried Vahland (Chairman since October 2024)
• Michael Lohscheller (Chief Executive Officer since 2024)

Previous Leadship

• Thomas Ingenlath (Chief Executive Officer from 2017 to 2024)
• Håkan Samuelsson (Chairman from 2017 to 2024)

Products

Current and future vehicles

Discontinued vehicles

Performance optimisation

In 2022, a special version of Polestar 2 was released as a Polestar Engineered product: the limited-production Polestar 2 BST edition 270, of which only 270 will exist.

Finances

As of December 2023, Polestar is a publicly traded company trading under the symbol PSNY on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Key figures:

Racing

Polestar has been working with Volvo since 1996, starting with racing Volvo cars and being involved in the development of race cars for Cyan Racing. In 2014, Polestar was involved in the development of a V8 powered Volvo S60 that was raced by Garry Rogers Motorsport in the Australian V8 Supercars series. Robert Dahlgren was seconded to Australia in 2014 as part of this programme and pulled out in the end of 2016.

Logo dispute in France

In 2019, French brand Citroën alleged that the Polestar company logo – also formed of chevrons – is too close to those of its Citroën and DS Automobiles brands. In the absence of an amicable agreement, Citroën took to the Tribunal de grande instance in July 2019. The latter, in a decision dated 4 June 2020, found in favor of the French manufacturer, a decision confirmed on appeal on 14 June 2020. As a result, from December 2021, Polestar vehicles cannot be purchased in France. In September 2022, it was reported that Citroën and Polestar had settled their dispute.

Other ventures

In August 2022, the company announced it would supply batteries and charging hardware to Candela for electric boats that would "fly" on hydrofoils.

References

References

1. https://www.autonews.com/executives/hakan-samuelsson-retire-polestar-chairman/#:~:text=Polestar%20Chairman%20and%20former%20Volvo,almost%20a%20decade%20until%202022.
2. "POLESTAR AUTOMOTIVE HOLDING UK PLC overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
3. (28 June 2024). "Polestar publishes full year 2023 results". Polestar Investors.
4. (14 April 2023). "Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC 2022 Annual Report (Form 20-F)". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
5. "Volvo Cars increases shareholding in Polestar to 49.5 per cent". Media.volvocars.com.
6. "Volvo to reduce its stake in Polestar from 48 to 18 per cent".
7. (April 2023). "Polestar inaugurates new headquarters in Sweden". Polestar.
8. "About Polestar {{!}} Polestar".
9. Holt, Nick. (15 August 2024). "Polestar starts US production of the Polestar 3".
10. (9 November 2023). "Polestar Bets on US, Korea to Avoid 'Made in China' EV Tariffs". Bloomberg.com.
11. Cole, Dani. (17 November 2023). "Polestar 4 China production starts".
12. (2013). "Volvo S60 Polestar Limited Edition". Polestar AB.
13. "Polestar Performance gives your Volvo more performance". Polestar AB.
14. (April 2023). "Polestar announces new management team". Polestar.
15. "History". Cyan Racing.
16. "Report of Foreign Private Issuer Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 Or 15d-16 Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the Month of July, 2022 - Commission File Number: 001-41431 - Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC". United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
17. (23 June 2022). "Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC".
18. "Polestar lists successfully on Nasdaq". investors.polestar.com.
19. Hawkins, Andrew J.. (27 September 2021). "Electric car company Polestar is going public via SPAC".
20. "Volvo Cars buys 100 per cent of Polestar".
21. Yarrow, Richard. (24 May 2010). "Volvo C30 Polestar review". Dennis Publishing Ltd..
22. Meissner, Johan. (7 June 2012). "Polestar presents Volvo S60 Polestar at the TTA Gothenburg City Race". Touring Car Team Association.
23. "Polestar presents Volvo S60 Polestar performance concept". Polestar AB.
24. Kiino, Ron. (8 January 2013). "Volvo S60 Polestar Track Test – 'Vette, Viper, Volvo?". MotorTrend.
25. (2017). "Polestar to become the new electrified performance brand for Volvo Cars". Polestar AB.
26. (2017). "Polestar to become the new electrified performance brand for Volvo Cars". Polestar AB.
27. "Volvo Cars and Geely Holdings invest 5 billion RMB to develop Polestar".
28. Lambert, Fred. (17 October 2017). "Volvo's Polestar unveils performance electric car, announces new 'Tesla Model 3 competitor'".
29. Valle, Marius. (17 October 2017). "Avduket i dag: Slik blir de elektriske sportsbilene fra Volvo". [[Teknisk Ukeblad]].
30. "The golden goodbye to Polestar 1".
31. "Polestar 2 electric powertrains {{!}} Polestar UK".
32. Baldwin, Roberto. (27 February 2019). "The stylish Polestar 2 takes on the Model 3 with a 275-mile range". [[Engadget]].
33. (17 October 2017). "Polestar unveils its first car – the Polestar 1 – and reveals its vision to be the new electric performance brand". Volvo Car Corporation.
34. "2024 Polestar 2 brings more power, performance and range".
35. "The emotions of performance: Polestar 6 to enter production".
36. Doll, Scooter. (16 August 2022). "Polestar (PSNY) announces its O₂ roadster concept will enter production as the Polestar 6".
37. Valdemar Lönnroth, Paul Wennerholm. (2 June 2023). "Polestar bygger nytt, stort huvudkontor i Frihamnen".
38. Engström, Fredrik. (9 June 2023). "80.000 kvm Polestar-projekt till salu".
39. (23 February 2024). "Volvo is ditching most of its stake in struggling Tesla rival Polestar".
40. (7 November 2022). "Polestar's emergency tuneup".
41. (11 April 2024). "Polestar announces global volumes for the first quarter; growing line-up of luxury SUV's to drive revenue and margin progression".
42. (16 June 2025). "Polestar secures $200 million investment from Geely's Li Shufu". Reuters.
43. "深陷困境的极星，收到了李书福的2亿美元注资".
44. "Polestar announces USD 200 million equity investment {{!}} Polestar".
45. https://investors.polestar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/polestar-announces-date-agm-and-board-changes?mobile=1#:~:text=GOTHENBURG%2C%20SWEDEN%20%E2%80%93%2013%20September%202024,member%20of%20the%20Audit%20Committee.
46. https://investors.polestar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/polestar-announces-leadership-change-michael-lohscheller
47. https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/volvo/car-interviews-polestar-boss-thomas-ingenlath/
48. https://finance.yahoo.com?err=404
49. (24 March 2020). "Polestar 2 production begins in Luqiao, China". Polestar.
50. Chilton, Chris. (12 October 2022). "2024 Polestar 3 Is An Electric Luxury SUV Priced From $84k With Up To 510 HP And A 379-Mile Range". Carscoops.
51. Golson, Daniel. (12 October 2022). "2023 Polestar 3 Electric SUV Debuts with Groundbreaking Tech, Fabulous Style". [[CNET]].
52. "Polestar expands manufacturing footprint to South Korea with production of Polestar 4 set to start in Busan in 2025".
53. "Polestar 7: confirmed for launch in 2028".
54. Leggett, David. (2025-07-03). "European production of Polestar 7 confirmed for Slovakia".
55. "Polestar 2 BST edition 270 {{!}} Polestar UK".
56. (2024). "Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC (PSNY): Financials". Stock Analysis.
57. Bartholomaeus, Stefan. (17 June 2013). "Volvo launches V8 Supercar campaign in Brisbane".
58. Bartholomaeus, Stefan. (16 January 2014). "Robert Dahlgren confirmed for Volvo V8 seat".
59. (4 June 2020). "Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, 4 juin 2020, 19/08639".
60. "CA Paris, pôle 5 – ch. 1, 14 déc. 2021, n° 20/12598".
61. (31 August 2022). "Entre Citroën et Polestar, les chevrons de la réconciliation".
62. Frangoul, Anmar. "EV maker Polestar to provide batteries for 'flying' electric boats".
63. Toll, Micah. (23 May 2023). "Candela and Polestar unveil new flying electric boat based on Scandinavian design".