Polestar (PSNY), a Swedish manufacturer of electric vehicles, is getting closer to bringing the Polestar 3 SUV to market.
The Polestar 3, which made its North American debut at an event in New York City, marked the beginning of the company’s roadshow for the electric SUV. The Polestar 3, backed by Volvo and China’s Geely (0175.HK), will be Polestar’s biggest ever product release as it competes with a growing field of EV SUV rivals like the Tesla (TSLA) Model X, Mercedes (MBG.DE), and BMW (BMW.DE) iX.
Polestar will start global production of the SUV at the Volvo plant in Chengdu, China, beginning in mid-2023 however at that point switch creation for North America and different business sectors beginning in mid-2024 out of Volvo’s plant in Ridgeville, S.C. Polestar’s different vehicles have been inherent China, which is all important for the “resource light” plan of action that Polestar is utilizing to assemble vehicles at existing plants claimed by Volvo and Geely.
Numerous objectives are met at the start of the Polestar 3 roadshow. One example is demonstrating to the world the brand’s next evolution. Plus: transforming the car’s image into a tangible product for the new markets.
“It’s such an important product (in) the SUV in this premium segment,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “We want customers, investors to be aware of what’s happening here in the next couple of months…you can’t communicate (this) through social media. The biggest thing is to come live and actually see the thing yourself with your own eyes.”
It seems like a novel idea to put the actual car in front of real people. Perhaps this is the reason Polestar has devised a $20 million strategy to promote the car through roadshows and, of course, conventional media.
Meanwhile: beginning at some point one year from now, at the earliest, clients in the U.S. could get a gigantic break as the IRA (Expansion Decrease Act) tax reductions. The Polestar 3 will be manufactured in the United States starting next year, making it eligible for the credits. However, the current models are not eligible for the credit because their MSRPs exceed $80,000 for EV SUVs.
However, that will change.
Ingenlath said that not long after the Polestar 3 starts creation in South Carolina, a less expensive, less lavish “back tire drive” variant will follow that will meet all requirements for the tax reductions.
In the meantime, a commercial lease exemption in the IRA enables the Polestar 3, regardless of price or country of origin, to obtain access to the tax credit. If leased through a bank or automaker, any electric vehicle can receive the entire tax credit in this scenario. Mercedes and Porsche, two of the world’s most prestigious automakers, have taken advantage of this lease exemption.
Leaving all of that aside, Polestar is anticipating a strong 2023 following a successful 2022 in which it met its production target for the Polestar 2 EV and actually reported a quarterly profit in the third quarter.
Ingenlath said, “2023 will be a year that is much more connected to consumer demand since, thank god, supply chain and all of that is a little less of a burden.” In other words, “a little bit more of normalization in our market,” he added.
Furthermore, that is not all. Later this year, the sport-oriented Polestar 4 SUV will make its debut.
