Polestar Opens Dealership in Oslo, Will Focus on China, U.S., Europe in 2020

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Automakers are coming out with electric vehicles for many reasons, emissions and regulations being the most prevalent, and for multiple markets. China, which recently introduced stricter emissions regulations, has become the main market for electric cars. Left and right, automakers are coming out with EVs mainly for China. Volvo's Polestar is already in China, so it's got a leg up on the competition. Now, Polestar's focusing on expanding, which it's doing with a new dealer in Oslo, Norway.

Polestar Sets Sights On Norway
 
Oslo may sound like a peculiar place for the first European dealership, but it's the route Polestar has taken. In 2020, more European countries will get the brand's electric vehicles, which will be followed by the introduction of the brand to the United States' west coast. It's a unique plan, as other brands have focused on one market before expanding to another. Polestar seems to simply be using the logic of expanding first.
 
Why Oslo and not the U.S.? According to Forbes, Norway has the highest penetration of EVs. Before 2019 comes to an end, roughly half of all new cars sold in Norway will be battery powered. The government in the country is determined to get more drivers to accept electric cars, aiming to ban all vehicles that don't have zero emissions by 2025.
 
Along with the unique business plan, Polestar is looking to go straight to the top with sales. Polestar's CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, is targeting 100,000 annual sales in the near future. "We want to be ambitious but not naïve and we can't do everything from a standing start," Ingenlath told Forbes in an interview. Ambitious is certainly one way to describe Polestar's plans.

Three-Pronged Approach
 
There's another issue: Polestar only has one vehicle on sale at the moment. There's the Polestar 1, which is a 600-horsepower hybrid supercar, the Polestar 2, a fully electric sedan with a range of 300 miles, and the Polestar 3, an electric SUV that's still in the planning stages of production. Despite not really having a lot of options for consumers, Polestar still aims to have 50,000 units per sold when the Polestar 2 comes out.
 
To get to that figure, the Polestar will have to expand to different markets, including China, Europe, and the U.S. Those three markets are part of an expansion plan that Polestar will undertake in 2020. In the United States, Los Angeles and San Francisco are the two cities that will be the first to get Polestar's options.
 
Compared to the competition, like Tesla, Polestar believes that other brands are established yet. That's partly true. Tesla is just getting warmed up in Europe, so if Polestar were to get onto the market and establish itself as a premium electric-vehicle manufacturer, it could reach its lofty goals.

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods