Polestar is what Gregor Hembrough, head of Polestar USA, calls “a 97-year-old start-up.” In that position, the automaker has a little more flexibility and wisdom when it comes to how it’ll position itself in the market. In a new interview with CEO Thomas Ingenlath, the choice is clear: carve out a path that’s nothing like what Tesla has done.
Ingenlath has a big job ahead of him. Taking market share away in today’s wildly competitive automotive market isn’t easy. Taking it away from huge players in the EV space like Tesla could prove harder. Polestar’s plan is to be decidedly different, something we got a taste of last month at its launch of the updated 2 sedan.
In a recent interview with Autonews Europe, Ingenlath laid out exactly why Polestar isn’t chasing Tesla, how it differentiates itself to the customer, and what the future holds.
More: What Do You Want To Know About The Refreshed 2024 Polestar 2?
Specifically, he’s sticking to his guns when it comes to a pricing war with other automakers including Tesla: “We have very clearly stated we will not get into a price war to achieve volume targets because we want to maintain our premium position. We are definitely not running after Tesla, which wants to have X factories and volumes in the millions.”
Instead, Ingenlath believes that it’s important for Polestar to be a company rooted in high quality rather than a low price. “We want the Polestar 3, 4, and 5 to firmly secure our place in the premium luxury segment rather than producing smaller, cheaper cars,” he said.
To make the point even further he highlighted how Polestar just updated the 2: “We made it better and a bit more expensive. We could have done the exact the opposite, taking value out by giving it a cheaper battery, a cheaper electric drivetrain and use cheaper materials and kept the same price. Or we could have followed Tesla and only offer one screen and save big bucks because that monitor in front of the driver is expensive. But we didn’t.”
That attitude is one that he hopes will demonstrate a love of design and technology and the passion that Polestar has for the product. He believes it’ll translate to the customer and ultimately bring more sales. Only time will tell if this plan will prove successful, but what is no doubt coming down the pipeline is something he dubbed “Polestar Day” later this year.
At that event, the company will talk about recent innovations, the partners it’s working with, and what the future holds. We know that it’ll include more cars here in the USA and abroad but we’ll have to wait until the event happens later this year to get all of the details.
