Polestar to arrive in Australia next year

Volvo’s new all-electric Polestar brand is scheduled to launch in Australia in late 2020 and an ambitious local sales target for its first model, the Polestar 2, has been revealed.

The Chinese-owned Swedish start-up is hoping the high-rise dual-motor all-wheel drive hatchback will account for 1000-1800 sales here in the first 12 months on sale via internet orders.

That target came from Polestar’s global chief operating officer Jonathan Goodman during a presentation to Australian media at the company’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, last week.

Goodman said two or three ‘Polestar spaces’ would be set up within city-centre Volvo dealerships – certainly Sydney and Melbourne and maybe Brisbane – with each expected to generate 500-600 sales annually.

“That’s the kind of throughput we’re looking for for them [dealers] to make reasonable money,” Goodman said.

“Australia is very much an interesting market for us to look at and an attractive market.

“Our plans will be probably be back-end of 2020 to launch Polestar 2 in Australia in right-hand drive. We are in the process of working on that and we are now going to sit down with the team at Volvo Car Australia to establish how we go about doing it.”

However, VCA managing director Nick Connor, who was running Polestar when the 2 was signed off, separately played down expectations for the brand’s sales performance in Australia.

“I don’t see any enthusiasm for the rapid take-up of electric vehicles in Australia,” Connor told carsales.com.au before Goodman revealed his estimate.

While Connor wouldn’t talk numbers, it would be fair to surmise VCA’s internal estimates for Polestar 2 sales in the first 12 months would be closer to 500 per annum than 1000.

The Polestar 2 is expected to retail in Australia close to $100,000, but a cheaper single-motor model will arrive within 12 months, followed by the Polestar 3 SUV coupe.

Goodman said Australia was a ‘phase two’ market for the company, following on from its initial launch in nine markets including China and the US this year.

He said potential customers would be able to get up close and personal with the Tesla Model 3 rival at the Polestar spaces, where up to three cars will be displayed.

The spaces will be staffed by product experts rather than commissioned sales staff. Another Polestar feature will be the collection and drop-off back to owners of cars due for servicing.

“We want to take two of the hassle pinchpoints out of the car buying process,” said Goodman.

All Polestar 2s will be ordered online and most will be bought on subscription, which is essentially an all-encompassing personal lease.

“Why subscription? I think a lot of people are going to be going with an electric car for the first time. They don’t know how much it costs to run or what it will be worth in three years’ time,” said Goodman.

“Effectively, a subscription will take that out of the equation. It will be a fixed monthly payment, they will know what they are paying in maintenance, insurance and finance. There is no residual risk because they will be able to hand the car back.”