Polestar Doubling Global Retailer Footprint Ahead of New Polestar 3 SUV Launch

Polestar is doubling its global footprint. The electric vehicle company, which is owned by Volvo Cars and Geely, is already well on its way toward establishing a showroom presence in America's largest cities and will now enter the sales arena in 18 markets worldwide including Hong Kong and Singapore. The company will have up to 100 operational Polestar locations by the end of the year.

"We are expanding both within markets in which we already have a presence and into new markets extremely rapidly. As a brand that has only been fully operational for just over 12 months, this sort of footprint is unprecedented," said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. "We aim to expand at a similar rate in terms of new markets in 2022 as well. This continued pace, combined with new retail concepts, will support our goal to exceed our owners' expectations."

Polestar Spaces, the name given to the company's showrooms, will be operational alongside Polestar Destinations. Both retailing experiences will allow potential buyers to experience Polestar vehicles. While Spaces are in traditionally urban areas, Destinations, a new concept, will operate in more rural localities and allow vehicle handovers to buyers. There will also be pop-up Polestar locations at a variety of retail environments.

"We focus on ensuring that customers can interact with the brand and our cars on their terms. A refined online buying environment is backed-up by physical locations to help drive awareness and sales," said Mike Whittington the head of sales at Polestar. "Our new Destination concept gives customers even more access to the brand, and fits some of our newer markets particularly well."

Polestar has a digital sales model that eschews the traditional dealership-led buying process. The strategy allows customers to explore, configure and purchase a vehicle via their internet-connected device. However, customers may still want to test drive. An additional 60 test drive locations will be operational by the end of the year to provide the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Polestar 2.

Polestar's network of over 650 service points will support clients post-purchase. The automaker expects to expand to 780 service stations by the end of 2021.

Currently, in the U.S. customers can test drive, service and purchase Polestar vehicles in Austin, Texas; Bellvue, Wash.; Boston; Detroit; Denver; Corte Madera and San Jose, Calif.; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; New York City; Princeton, N.J.; and Scottsdale, Arizona. Additional locations are planned for Atlanta, Connecticut, Dallas, South Florida and Washington D.C.

Polestar will launch its third vehicle, Polestar 3, soon. The SUV will be built at the Volvo Cars production center in Ridgeville, S.C. alongside forthcoming Volvo products. Assembly of the model is expected to kick off in 2022.