Marque reveals future goals

Polestar has launched an updated strategy with significant changes being made to improve operational, commercial and financial performance.

Its new business plan targets compound growth in annual retail sales of 30-35 per cent from 2025-27 and positive-adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation this year.

Gaining commercial and operational momentum, furthering margins, and reducing fixed costs and working capital improvements are expected from next year onwards, with positive free cashflow after investments expected in 2027.

“We expect 2025 to be the strongest year in our history,” says Michael Lohscheller, Polestar’s chief executive officer. 

“With Scandinavian design, performance and a premium brand, Polestar has successfully positioned itself in the global market. We have three outstanding cars on the road and a growing, passionate customer base.

“We’re building on the strong brand with design and performance at its core. But significant changes are needed to make this a successful and viable business. 

“We are speeding up our retail expansion and commercial transformation while adjusting our future line-up and significantly reducing our cost base. In terms of volumes and financials, we expect 2025 to be the strongest year in Polestar’s history.”

After the success of the Polestar 2, and ramping up deliveries of the 3 and 4, the second half of 2025 will see sales of the Polestar 5 start.

This is the performance four-seat grand tourer based on the marque’s in-house bonded-aluminium platform. It will also be the first Polestar to use 800-volt technology.

The Polestar 7, meanwhile, is a compact SUV that will target the world’s fastest growing and most profitable premium segment. Reinforcing the value of the brand’s asset-light business model, the 7 is planned to be made in Europe. 

With production already in place in the US, South Korea and China, Polestar says it continues to strengthen itself with a “well-balanced international manufacturing network”.

Over time, from the 7 onwards, Polestar will gradually move from a multi-platform approach to one single architecture to cut complexity, costs and investments.

The marque is also accelerating its shift to an active selling model with extra retail partners and more outlets.

Polestar plans to expand from 70 to 130 and from 36 to 57 retail spaces in Europe and North America respectively. Its direct-to-consumer online sales channel will remain, giving customers a choice in how they buy.

The changes being made to its commercial operations are having a positive impact with a 5.3 per cent increase in retail sales and a 37.2 per cent jump in order intake in 2024’s final quarter compared to the same period in 2023. 

The Polestar 3 and 4 represented 56 per cent of order intake in the fourth quarter of last year, creating a strong momentum into 2025.

New-market expansion will now focus on France, which is one of the largest and fastest growing EV markets in Europe. Additional expansion across Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America is planned from 2026 onwards.

Moving forward, Polestar expects significantly increased revenue contribution from selling carbon dioxide (CO2) credits.

It believes that with some traditional OEMs struggling to transition to EVs that demand for these credits will increase in coming years to a three-digit US-million- dollar amount annually from this year. Polestar has already created an EU CO2 pool with four OEMs for 2025.

In addition, the company is launching Polestar Energy in several key markets in Europe. It says this makes home charging smarter, more efficient and cheaper, and users can reduce home-charging costs by up to 30 per cent via an app.

The more its customers charge and support the grid through Polestar Energy, the more benefits they get. The service is to be launched in several other markets during the second half of this year.

As for owning a Polestar, the company says this continues to be made more convenient – not just through better home charging, but also on the road.

With Polestar Charge, customers in Europe have access to more than 850,000 charging points including Tesla Superchargers. In North America, its clients have access to around 17,800 Tesla Superchargers with a NACS adaptor.