Electric car maker Polestar wants to manufacture in the US due to EU-China tensions

Electric car maker Polestar, which, like Volvo Cars, belongs to China's Geely Group, which wants to build more vehicles outside the People's Republic due to rising geopolitical tensions.

Polstar boss Thomas Ingenlath said the company is preparing to increase production in the US and sell cars from there to the European Union. Handelsblatt. The EU Commission is currently investigating punitive tariffs on cars from China. Ingenlath explained that this makes Polestar's bills more difficult. The brand is gearing up accordingly. “We are accelerating our plans to position ourselves internationally.”

The start-up vehicles are currently manufactured mainly in the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Taizhou. Polestar, which has been producing electric cars since this year, has a factory in South Carolina in the US and plans to build another production facility in South Korea.

Polestar is struggling with low demand for electric cars. According to the report, the company sold two-fifths fewer vehicles in the first quarter than a year ago. In February, Volvo Cars stopped investing in the company and handed over its stake to its parent company, Geely.

Apart from the Polestar 2 mid-range car and the Polestar 3 and 4 SUVs, the Polestar 5 sports sedan and the Polestar 6 sports car are expected to be launched by 2026.

“This is a transition year as we transition from a one-car brand in the first half of 2024 to ramping up deliveries of our two luxury SUVs in the second half of the year,” Ingenlath said in February. “The extremely positive reviews resulting from global media test drives of the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 demonstrate the progress of our brand and confirm our dynamic, global strategy. These two cars will underpin strong sales and margin growth in the second half of the year and support our goals for 2025.