Polestar Electric carmaker is a Sino-Swedish automotive brand jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and its parent company Geely. It is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden with production taking place in Chengdu, China. The company develops electric performance cars and offers performance … performance division of automakers · Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers.
Polestar Electric carmaker was once the name of a Swedish racing team that had become part of Volvo. But in 2017, it became a separate company making fully electric luxury cars and it is, more and more, pulling itself away from the famously safety-conscious parent company.
With its first two cars now on the market and more dealerships opening up, Polestar is carving out a clear identity as a Swedish luxury car brand that is not just making electric Volvos. (Volvo, meanwhile, is making its own electric cars.)
One thing Polestar will not be, CEO Thomas Ingenlath makes clear, is a “Tesla killer.” Polestar, he says, will keep its focus.Polestar is one brand in the stable of Polestar’s other parent company — and Volvo’s owner — Geely.
The China-based company owns half of Polestar Electric carmaker while also owning all of Volvo, which in its own right owns the other half of Polestar. (Yes, it’s confusing.) Geely, one of China’s top automakers, sold 1.4 million cars in that country last year, and 2 million cars globally, said Stephanie Brinley, an industry analyst with IHS Markit. Geely also has another joint venture brand with Volvo, the tech-focused Lynk & Co.
At a glance, Polestar’s first two cars, called simply the Polestar 1 and the Polestar 2, look very much like electric Volvos. It shouldn’t be surprising. The Polestar 1 is a long and expensive — prices start at over $155,000 — two-door car that was modeled closely on 2012’s Volvo Concept Coupe.
From the outside, it looks a bit like someone wrapped the skin of a Volvo S90 sedan around the skeleton of a two-door Aston Martin. That fairly well describes the way it drives, as well.A plug-in hybrid — all the rest of Polestar’s cars will be fully electric — the Polestar 1 provides strong and balanced performance with a relaxing, laid-back feel. The interior design would be instantly recognizable to anyone who’s been in any new Volvo model. There’s that polygonal shifter made from crystal just like in top-end Volvos. There’s also that big touch screen with its attractive, but somewhat awkward, graphical interface.
