Polestar has not been available in the Netherlands for five years. This makes it a relatively young electric car brand by traditional standards. Nevertheless, Polestar has managed to acquire a fairly unique position as an existing and accepted brand in the minds of the Dutch. And this while Polestar has had to deal with the necessary challenges since it split from Volvo in 2017.
Let’s get straight to the point: the Swedish electric car maker is not yet making a profit. In addition, Polestar has had its fair share of troubles as a subsidiary of Chinese car giant Geely.
Earlier this year Volvo reduced its stake in Polestar from around 48 percent to just over 18 percent. In addition, Polestar had to new financing arrangements with a group of banks worth almost a billion dollars. Also, several top people.
Although alarm bells may have rung several times at Polestar in the past year, the company claims that its internal problems are now under control. “The financing is in place and we have the right people at the top, with whom we can look to the future with confidence. Polestar will stay for a while,” Willem Baudewijns, general manager of the Netherlands and Germany of Polestar, told Business Insider Netherlands during the opening of the brand’s new ‘Space’ in Zwolle.
“I think we have been in the media quite unfairly in recent times. Take the reduction of Volvo’s share in Polestar. That was decided years ago and was a strategic decision. As Polestar, we will benefit from that, because we can operate more independently alongside Volvo,” Baudewijns explains. “And the fact that we are not yet making a profit also has to do with the costs of developing the new models, without being able to sell them yet. That costs millions.”
Polestar enters a new phase
However, Baudewijns does acknowledge that the turbulent image surrounding the brand can be explained to some extent, which he regrets. After all, the future plans are clear. “We are entering a new phase. This location in Zwolle is the first of many more of these types of locations that we will open in Europe in the near future,” he says.
Also underlying is that Polestar knows that human contact is important when selling cars. “I knew that from when I started in 2019. It is not without reason that we have multiple locations in cities where people can come into contact with our models. However, at some point you also have to ensure that you are present at other locations such as the car boulevard. That is the place where people come to experience cars and we can also provide that service better from here.”
The fact that Polestar is an established brand in the eyes of the Dutch remains a plus. “In retrospect, you can say that we entered the market at the right time, before the big wave of other newcomers,” says Baudewijns. “But we also had the luxury of being able to build on the connection we have with Volvo. That immediately gives extra confidence in the new brand.”
Polestart: the connection with Volvo
The connection between Polestar and Volvo went beyond brand value. When it was introduced in the Netherlands, Polestar was able to rely on Volvo’s more than 80 service points in the Netherlands. “That is not only important for consumer confidence, but also makes it much easier to talk to the major leasing companies in the Netherlands. Something I did first when I started. The Polestar 2 was therefore included in the range with confidence, which partly contributed to the 11,000 units of this model that are currently driving around in the Netherlands,” says Baudewijns.
Still, the CEO believes that the connection with Volvo, approaching the market correctly and creating consumer confidence are all secondary to the product. “It all starts with the product. You have to create something good. We did that with the Polestar 2 and we will continue to do so with the upcoming models,” says Baudewijns proudly, while referring to the improvements that the Polestar 2 has undergone with software updates in recent years. “We have gone to more than 650 kilometers of range with these cars. That shows that we are continuing with the development.”
That success now needs to be built upon with two new cars in the range and two others due to appear next year and in 2026.
The Polestar 3 and 4 are now available in the Netherlands. That brings new challenges for Baudewijns and his team, because how do you introduce two cars at the same time? “We are not going to do that. We just had the Polestar 4, with a lot of attention on TV. In the coming period we are going to focus on the Polestar 3”, Baudewijns explains. “It is actually a luxury problem, because we are now mainly happy that we finally have those cars.”
Now Polestar has a small advantage, because with the new models it will be possible to avoid import duties to avoidwhich apply if electric cars are exported directly from China to Europe.
The Polestar 2 is subject to European import duties, but has not yet been increased in price. “We are waiting until the duties are final on November 4. Only then will we give an answer that is appropriate to the situation,” Baudewijns explains. “We are of course already discussing it and have drawn up several plans.”
Stable fiscal policy leaves much to be desired in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, Polestar is also dealing with uncertainties from politics, which are an unpleasant surprise to him. “I would really like politics to come up with a stable policy. The fact that we are now getting another change in motor vehicle tax is actually unacceptable. Not only can we not plan for this, but the consumer also does not know what to expect. There were clear agreements, which are still being adjusted at the last minute. That should not be possible if you have the ambition to drive emission-free from 2030,” says Baudewijns.
The Dutch director of Polestar is not the only one who is concerned about this. The entire automotive industry has sounded the alarm. However, the CEO of Polestar would not lie down on the doorstep of the Schoof cabinet: “No, I have confidence in how we are handling it now. We are on the same page with all parties and have a good lobby,” he says.
The vision of the future that Polestar sketches certainly exudes confidence. In the Space in Zwolle, two new concept models are on display until the end of October. The first is the Polestar 5, a premium sedan that can be viewed “almost in production form”.
Then there’s the Polestar 6: a roadster that has already been pre-sold, while its final form is not even known yet. When it was introduced last year, customers were given the opportunity to pre-pay for one of 500 ‘concept editions’ of the electric sports car. That turned out to be a good move, because it’s already completely sold out.
