Polestar boss Michael Lohscheller is bullish that the EV start-up will survive the next five years, due to its ongoing new-car offensive, Tesla-targeting marketing and green shoots in its quarterly results.
Sitting down with the CEO at the FT’s Future of the Car summit, Auto Express asked why loss-making Polestar – whose share price remains marooned just above $1 (76p), about 300 times lower than Tesla’s – would still be here in 2030?
“Because we have fantastic cars, we focus on inspiring design, great performance and sustainability,” he shot back. “We have access to the best technology in the world and we focus on the right execution.”
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Loscheller, who joined the company in autumn 2024 tasked with turning Polestar around, has delivered some green shoots in his second quarter as boss. Sales rose 76 per cent with the Polestar 4 coupe-SUV and Polestar 3 large SUV gaining a foothold in the EV market – but remain modest: just 12,306 cars were delivered.
Polestar’s number one target: Tesla
Polestar is gunning for Tesla in the US, offering customers who switch allegiance a $5,000 incentive. Would Loscheller do the same in Europe?
“We have various campaigns in place, sometimes specifically addressing Tesla customers,” he told us. “They’re interesting [to us] because they’re early adopters who know EV technology, they know charging.” He cites a campaign in Norway that, through clever use of fonts, looked like the word ‘Tesla’ in Norwegian but actually asked: have you tested a Polestar?
