A serious funding increase for ailing Chinese language-Swedish electrical car (EV) specialist Polestar will not be sufficient for the model to interrupt even, because it fights for relevancy in an more and more crowded market.
This week, Polestar introduced it had secured US$950 million (A$1.46 billion) in funding from “a syndicate of worldwide banks”.
The close to billion-dollar injection barely covers the 30 per cent stake in Polestar not too long ago offloaded by former mum or dad firm Volvo, which it valued at 9.5 billion Swedish krona (A$1.4 billion). Volvo retains an 18 per cent stake within the model.
It additionally doesn’t attain the US$1.3 billion (A$2bn) in exterior funding Polestar beforehand stated it could want to interrupt even in 2025.
Polestar is now owned by Chinese language automotive big Geely, however shares virtually all of its EV elements with both its mum or dad firm or extra established sibling Volvo.
As such, the model has struggled to ascertain itself towards an more and more aggressive EV market, with competitors coming from fellow Chinese language manufacturers – which purpose themselves in the direction of the extra inexpensive finish of the spectrum – and established manufacturers together with Tesla.
In January, Polestar stated it could retrench 450 workers, about 15 per cent of its workforce, in a bid to scale back exterior spending and edge nearer to breaking even.
At current, Polestar’s mannequin lineup consists of the Polestar 2 (based mostly on the Volvo XC40) and the upcoming Polestar 4. The latter being its solely actually bespoke mannequin however nonetheless underpinned by a Geely EV platform.
The upcoming Polestar 3 massive SUV is the model’s spin-off on the brand new Volvo EX90, with each autos delayed as a result of growth points.
In 2023, the Polestar 2 was the seventh best-selling EV in Australia, with the 2463 examples offered representing lower than one-tenth of the Tesla Mannequin Y’s 28,769 gross sales.
It was additionally outsold by the electrical Volvo XC40 upon which it’s based mostly, which recorded 2846 gross sales throughout the identical interval.
MORE: Volvo pulls plug on Polestar funding as electrical automotive model struggles