Snapshot
- Polestar CEO says Polestar 7 will be the first model of European design.
- But that will happen around 2027 and Volvo has the final word.
- Five separate factories are currently confirmed in China and the US.
Sino-Swedish electric car maker Polster wants to add Europe as another manufacturing source, But it will have to wait for at least five years. And launch four other new models until it becomes a reality.
“For us, what’s important is to come to Europe at some point. And that could be when we start building Pollster 7,” said Pollster CEO Thomas Ingenlath. Automotive News Europe.
Because Polestar uses an ‘asset-light’ model, it needs to negotiate with the major shareholders of its two owners – Swedish firm Volvo Cars and Chinese carmaker Geely – to use space in their factories.
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Volvo’s European factories are currently spread across Sweden and Belgium, with a Slovakian plant due to open in 2026. Polestar 7 should launch in 2027 or later.
“It’s up to Volvo where they will put the vehicles on the platform and where they will be built,” Ingenlath said.
It’s unclear what the Polestar 7 will be because the brand doesn’t link the number to the size of the vehicle, unlike the approach of Hyundai Motor Group and Volkswagen Group.
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It currently sells the Tesla Model 3-competing Polestar 2 electric liftback built in Volvo’s Luqiao, China factory shared with the related Volvo XC40.
It will join the Polestar 3 large SUV, which is manufactured at Volvo’s USA plant in South Carolina and Chengdu, China. The luxury electric car will launch globally next year, then roll out in Australia from 2024 with a USA factory.
The just-released Polestar 4 coupe will be more affordable and smaller than the crossover 3, but it will be produced in a separate plant: Geely’s Hangzhou Bay factory in China. It is perfectly positioned to take on the upcoming Porsche Macan EV and launch from 2024.
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Finally, the Polestar 5 large grand tourer sedan and related Polestar 6 convertible roadster will be produced at the automaker’s first dedicated factory opening in Chongqing, China in 2024.
That’s when the high-performance 5 is due to launch globally, followed by the 6 in 2026. The latter will be launched in a Polestar 6 LA Concept variant which is limited to 500 examples globally – all of which have been sold out.
The Polestar 0 is also planned for release by 2030, as the brand’s first climate-neutral production car from start to finish in the circular economy.