Merger steers Polestar toward promising future
Swedish electric performance carmaker Polestar has gone public at Nasdaq, which is expected to accelerate the growth of the five-year-old marque now available in 25 global markets.
The move has made it the latest electric vehicle maker to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
The deal with the SPAC Gores Guggenheim raises around $890 million for Polestar, which will fund its plan of growth underpinned by its key values of design, innovation and sustainability.
“We will now begin a new chapter in our story that can be summarized in one word — growth,” said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar.
“We already have a real and successful business; this listing gives us the funds and platform to help deliver our ambitious future plans and drive industry-leading sustainability goals forward.”
Alec Gores, chairman and CEO of The Gores Group, said: “Polestar has proven itself to be a true leader and innovator with premier vehicles, industry-leading sustainability solutions, impressive sales and orders, and stunning designs for future models.”
Founded in 2017 by Volvo Cars and its owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Polestar features the agility of a startup while having access to an established car giant’s expertise and capacity.
This unique combination has given the carmaker a head start in production and global expansion, said Nathan Forshaw, president of Polestar China and the Asia-Pacific.
“Polestar serves as a kind of combination of both worlds,” said Forshaw in an interview with China Daily prior to its listing.
“With established OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), we’re very proud of being a part of Geely Group, and with the involvement of heritage, you know the credibility and scalability we bring, that’s also working to give us a very agile and disruptive nature.”
Polestar has launched two awardwinning models, the hybrid GT Polestar 1 and the electric fastback Polestar 2. So far more than 55,000 of them are on the road globally.
Orders for Polestar 2 have exceeded 32,000 this year, an increase of 290 percent year-on-year.
Forshaw said Polestar and Tesla, are truly the two pure global EV players.
“We launched in 10 global markets and we have expanded very quickly into 25 markets now, and 30 markets by the end of next year, and I think that shows the demand for Polestar is really growing very rapidly,” he said.
Polestar has research and development facilities in the United Kingdom, Sweden and China.
Polestar cars are manufactured in two facilities in China, with additional future manufacturing planned in the United States.
Its R&D center in China is dedicated to local consumer insights and cooperation with Chinese institutions to provide a better experience for local consumers in the world’s largest market for new energy vehicles.
In terms of its sales network, Polestar is expected to have more than 50 touch points across 30 key cities in China by the end of this year.
Forshaw said Polestar has a very clear product plan which will drive its sales to exceed 290,000 units in 2025, which will be 10 times the figure in 2021.
From 2022, Polestar plans to launch one new electric vehicle per year, starting with the Polestar 3 — the company’s first electric performance SUV — which is expected to debut in October 2022.
The model will be built both in China and the US.
Forshaw said the Polestar 3 has a design language that is truly representative of Polestar.
“It will use bespoke and bonded aluminum platform as well as Nvidia core processing power with a range of about 600 kilometers (under the worldwide harmonized light vehicles test procedure, or the WLTP), and it’s a very exciting product particularly for the Chinese market. It has low rooflines and a very sporty feel, which represents the evolution of our history,” he said.
Polestar 4, a smaller electric performance SUV coupe, is expected to follow in 2023. In 2024, the Polestar 5 electric performance four-door GT is planned to be launched as the production evolution of Polestar Precept.
Forshaw said a new plant is being built in China for the model that showcases the brand’s future vision in terms of design, technology, and sustainability. Polestar aims to produce a climate-neutral car by 2030.
Design and technology are two elements that Polestar has distinguished itself from others, Forshaw said.
“We have Thomas Ingenlath as our CEO and he’s upholding design by trade, which is quite unique in many respects in many industries.
“It’s not common to have a CEO who is a designer. Of course, passion is a motivating factor for driving a car, which is why we design very detail-oriented cars,” he said.
He said innovation is a key part of Polestar’s DNA as well, adding that it is the company’s mission statement that they stay on the front line and improve society.
“We like to say we’re digital first but customer always,” he said. “I think that’s the critical part we’ve also introduced to deliver a great user experience for our consumers, not just with the updates which also help to maintain the vehicles in a way that continuously delivers a greater premium user experience, but also to create new services and features to enhance the user experience for consumers.”