EV startup Polestar braces for two product launches in less than a year

LOS ANGELES — Electric vehicle maker Polestar is witnessing the downside of the “asset-light” strategy that is key to its rapid growth plan.

To operate fast and easy, Polestar is reliant on global partners to help produce its models. But when those partners can’t deliver according to plan, Polestar’s strategy can kneecap its growth.

That is what is happening to the Swedish startup.

Polestar is part of a portfolio of brands controlled by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which includes Volvo Cars, Lynk & Co and Lotus. The Chinese conglomerate’s network of global factories, supplier networks and R&D centers allow the young brand to focus on product and technology rather than manufacturing or logistics, according to the plan.

But software-related hiccups in the development of Volvo’s new SPA2 vehicle platform could complicate Polestar’s ambitions to expand in the U.S. market.

The Polestar 3 midsize crossover, based on the SPA2 architecture, has been delayed by nearly a year, causing a cascading effect on Polestar’s commercial strategy. The fledgling brand suddenly finds itself juggling back-to-back product rollouts.

The Polestar 3 is now expected in U.S. stores in the fourth quarter, and only about nine months later comes the coupe-style Polestar 4 crossover.

“When everybody is scared of one launch, how can we launch two cars from an industrial point of view?” wondered CEO Thomas Ingenlath in an interview with Automotive News on the sidelines of a Polestar 3 event here.