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Volvo's electric-car spin-off brand expects the Australian and international EV markets to continue growing – but it doesn't predict a straightforward path.
Electric car specialist Polestar is forging ahead with its burgeoning Australian line-up despite market swings – internationally and locally – in battery-powered vehicle sales.
In the space of six months, Polestar’s local range has expanded from a single model to three, and 2025 is set to see the arrival of the forthcoming Polestar 5 sedan to join the Polestar 2, Polestar 3 and Polestar 4.
While other manufacturers are pulling back on their electric vehicle rollout plans amid cooling demand, Polestar is weathering the storm and even says head office in Sweden is proud of the local progress so far.
Polestar Australia managing director Scott Maynard told Drive the current fluctuations in the electric-car market are within reason.
“It all depends on what your expectations were going in,” said Mr Maynard.
“When electric vehicles suddenly became easier to access, they got marketed, they became easier to live with… then, suddenly all of that pent-up demand [for EVs] burst through and we just saw such a rapid rise in [their] popularity.”
“There were commentators in market that expected that [growth] to continue, which is probably a bit unrealistic. So, it needs to settle and that's sort of what we're seeing now.”
Very few electric-car makers in Australia offer just a single model, though the addition of two new vehicles provides an opportunity for Polestar to catch up to brands such as Tesla and BYD.
“A lot of the [electric vehicle] product that was brought to market confined itself into a fairly small segment of total industry, particularly in Australia,” said Maynard.
“A lot of product was pushed into that medium-sized, sedan-style market and now we're starting to see a greater diversity of product, I would expect to see [the EV market] pick up again.”
“So last month [October 2024] we still see total [Australian] electric vehicle sales running at an annual growth rate now of [beyond] 10 per cent. It’s back to growing faster than total [new-car] industry [sales] volume, which is sub-10 now.
“So it's still doing well, but I think there's still going to be a few more of those ebbs and flows until we establish some product in some of the main segments, products like [the Polestar 4] that crack the medium-sized SUV set.
Asked about the success of the brand in Australia to date – Polestar arrived locally in 2022 – Maynard said the reception from head office has been positive, despite the company only reporting 1460 new vehicles as sold so far this year.
“We're well inside the top-10 [Polestar markets]… we're pretty proud to occupy that spot. So we punch above our weight against some of the European markets,” said Mr Maynard.
“I was fortunate to be in Sweden a few weeks ago for my first trip over there, and [received] a really good orientation of the brand. Every office I went into is really proud of the performance that's been pulled from the team here and what they've been able to do.”
Tom started out in the automotive industry by exploiting his photographic skills but quickly learned journalists got the better end of the deal. With tenures at CarAdvice, Wheels Media, and now Drive, Tom's breadth of experience and industry knowledge informs a strong opinion on all things automotive. At Drive, Tom covers automotive news, car reviews, advice, and holds a special interest in long-form feature stories.
