- Polestar’s international electrical automobile gross sales declined by 15% in 2024 in comparison with the yr earlier than.
- Now, with a sales- and business-focused CEO in cost, the automaker hopes to show issues round this yr.
- CEO Michael Lohscheller has reportedly requested his deputies to lure in Tesla consumers who really feel uncomfortable being related to Elon Musk’s politics.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s rising foray into international politics is perhaps rubbing a lot of his would-be clients the fallacious method. Now, Polestar’s new CEO, Michael Lohscheller, sees that as a possibility for his model.
Polestar‘s gross sales have not been nice because it waited for brand spanking new fashions just like the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 to hitch the household. The Geely Group-owned automaker offered simply 44,851 EVs worldwide in 2024, down 15% from the earlier yr. Musk, alternatively, has been much less centered on Tesla’s passenger automotive enterprise, given his new advisory function in President Trump’s authorities and pivot in direction of AI and robotics.
Tesla homeowners have felt uncared for and antagonized by the CEO’s politics (even shopping for anti-Musk bumper stickers for his or her vehicles), and the model’s gross sales declined for the primary time final yr in over a decade final yr. Its U.S. EV market share has been declining for consecutive quarters, accounting for about 44% of the U.S. EV market within the final quarter.
“Lots of people have a really, very unfavourable sentiment,” Lohscheller instructed Bloomberg, referring to Musk trying to exert his affect on European politics.
Picture by: InsideEVs
Musk has turn out to be more and more enthusiastic about German and British politics and has voiced his assist for far-right events. At President Trump’s inauguration on Monday, he pounded his fist on his chest after which prolonged it within the air, a gesture that far-right supporters instantly embraced.
German-born Lohscheller praised Musk’s enterprise acumen earlier than criticizing his interference in Europe’s politics. “I feel it’s completely unacceptable. You simply don’t do this. That is pure vanity,” he stated within the interview. Now, he has requested his gross sales executives to lure potential Tesla consumers who aren’t eager on being related to the model.
This method isn’t new. Tesla’s rivals have been providing conquest offers on their EVs for months. Most CEOs, nonetheless, haven’t been as vocal in criticizing Musk. Polestar, at this stage, in all probability wants each trick up its sleeve to show issues round.
All its EVs are made in China, besides the Polestar 3 for the U.S. market, which can be made at Volvo’s Ridgeville, South Carolina plant and Geely Group’s plant in Chengdu, China.
Earlier than passing the torch to President Trump, the Biden administration finalized the ban on Chinese language software program and {hardware}, successfully prohibiting made-in-China automobiles from getting into the U.S. Chinese language EVs already confronted a 100% import tariff earlier than that. This jeopardizes Polestar’s enterprise, however now, with a brand new sales- and business-focused CEO in Lohscheller, the automaker hopes to show issues round. It’s concentrating on a 30-35% gross sales quantity development this yr.
It has gone from being a one-car model within the U.S. to providing three fashions. That features the Polestar 2 (coupe), Polestar 3 (SUV) and the upcoming Polestar 4 (crossover coupe). The Polestar 5 luxurious sedan is due this yr and the automaker additionally introduced Polestar 7 final week, a compact SUV that will probably be made in Europe later this decade. Polestar EVs additionally bought Tesla Supercharger assist final yr, opening up entry to just about 18,000 extra plugs throughout the U.S., which ought to make road-tripping loads simpler.
“We count on 2025 to be the strongest yr in Polestar’s historical past,” Lohscheller stated.
