Polestar 2/Manufacturer
Polestar 4. Camera instead of rear window/manufacturer website
Volvo will transfer control of the Polestar streetcar brand to the Chinese parent company of both, Geely, which will finance it in its place.
This is after Polestar did not meet its sales targets in 2023, selling only 54,000 instead of 60,000 cars, a target that was lowered from the local forecast of 80,000 units.
Polestar was originally a Swedish racing workshop, acquired by Volvo back in 2015 after a collaboration of several years.
Encouraged by Geely, the Swedes turned Polestar into a base for a new division that produces only electric cars, based on Volvo technology, and a production line in China.
The company currently produces four electric crossover and sedan models, but has been hit by the price war in China's electric car sector and the automotive industry estimates that it will have difficulty reaching financial balance in 2025 as planned, which will require additional resources to be poured into it.
Walla car test
What did we think of the Polestar 2 in the first drive
Volvo now owns 49.5% of the Polestar shares, which will be partially or mostly transferred to Geely itself, which has taken over the continued financing of the brand.
Development is expected to remain under Volvo.
Polestar is now valued at $3.67 billion, down more than 80% from its IPO value.
On the other hand, the announcement sent the Volvo stock up 4%.
In Israel, Polestar was launched in 2022 through importer Volvo, Honda, and Ling & Co. Meir.
Since then, 500 units of the sedan Polestar 2 model have been sold in Israel. Sales in Israel were hurt last year by lowering the prices of the Tesla Model 3, which did not result in a corresponding reduction of the 2.
In January of this year, 132 cars were licensed, some of which are cars that have already passed 12 months since their arrival in Israel and will now be sold by the importer as vehicles from previous ownership.
The activity in Israel continues as planned, when later this year two new models will be launched in Israel.
Next quarter will see the launch of the Polestar 3, a large crossover that is mechanically based on the new Volvo EX90, but offers only five seats and plenty of space.
A 111 hp battery and a pair of electric motors, which create a dual drive, provide a 610 km range.
A little later, a smaller Polestar 4 will be launched, in a unique coupe crossover configuration: it has no rear window at all, and the rear view is done only through a camera and a screen.
The basic model has 272 hp, a 102 kWh battery and a promise of 600 km combined range.
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