Polestar on track to double market presence
29 July 2021
Polestar is on track to double both its market presence and retail environments globally by the end of this year. This marks rapid progress for the luxury electrified brand given that it has only been completely up and running for just over a year.
‘We are expanding both within markets in which we already have a presence and into new markets extremely rapidly. As a brand that has only been fully operational for just over 12 months, this sort of footprint is unprecedented,’ said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. ‘We aim to expand at a similar rate in terms of new markets in 2022 as well. This continued pace, combined with new retail concepts, will support our goal to exceed our owners’ expectations.’
Exponential growth
By the end of 2021, Polestar will have doubled its global footprint from nine markets to 18. The new locations added since launch are: Switzerland (in 2020), Austria, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. These destinations will join the original markets: Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Canada, the Netherlands, the US, the UK, and China.
The electrified carmaker is also expanding its retail offerings. Its ‘Spaces’ approach traditionally focuses on city-centre locations, but with the new ‘Destinations’ concept, consumers will gain additional access points. These sites will be based at larger, easily accessible, out-of-town locations. Both will offer the same experience, allowing customers to get to know the brand and take a test drive. Destinations will also perform vehicle handovers.
This move will take the brand’s physical presence to roughly 100 retail locations worldwide, including some temporary pop-up locations. New Spaces and Destinations will launch in all markets, with exact locations to come. A Polestar spokesperson did outline to Autovista24 that recent openings in the last few weeks include Frankfurt, Copenhagen and Vienna, with significant US growth as well.
Physical back-up
Polestar utilises a predominantly digital sales model, allowing customers the chance to explore, configure and purchase a car online. All of this can be done without visiting a physical location, but the brand recognises the importance of seeing its models in person, not to mention taking a test drive, with Norway being a good example.
Some 60 additional test-drive locations will be operational by the end of the year, providing additional access to the Polestar 2. Customer handover centres are also increasing to meet demand, alongside other methods like home delivery. There are also over 650 service points within Polestar’s markets, with the ambition to grow this number to 780 by the end of the year.
‘We focus on ensuring that customers can interact with the brand and our cars on their terms. A refined online buying environment is backed-up by physical locations to help drive awareness and sales,’ said Mike Whittington, Polestar’s head of sales. ‘Our new Destination concept gives customers even more access to the brand and fits some of our newer markets particularly well.’
The Swedish car brand has seen increasing interest from its former parent Volvo Cars (Volvo), which recently acquired additional shares, taking its holding up to 49.5%. After this, Volvo does not have any plans to further increase its stake in Polestar, or to consolidate it. The acquisition is scheduled for completion shortly but is still subject to certain conditions.
