Fresh reports coming out of the Wall Street Journal suggest that EV manufacturer, Polestar, won’t be continuing its operations in the USA. The Chinese brand fell foul of a ban last month, as part of ongoing tensions between the USA and China which has brought about tariffs and bans across the board.
While many had expected the brand to fight back – either via an official appeals process or through the courts – the latest news suggests that it won’t be doing so. That’s caused a lot of uproar among the brand’s dealer network, but it likely won’t create such a stir among consumers.
The brand hasn’t really taken off in the USA, with data from Cox Automotive (via CarEdge) showing that it has hovered between 2,000-3,000 sales per quarter over the last few years. The American public, it seems, is much more enamored with Tesla’s offering – that has over half of the total market share – with Ford, General Motors and Hyundai also into consistent five-figure sales.
As someone who has tested a fair few EVs over the years – including models from Tesla and Polestar – I think this will come back to haunt the market. Sure, the immediate impact will almost struggle to be felt given its smaller stature in the market, but in the longer-term, I think the market will miss what the brand offers.
To me, Polestar feels more refined than Tesla, with better build quality and appointments. You’ll find broadly similar specs where it counts, but the interior is much nicer and focuses on luxury in things like the speaker system.
Fast forward ten years and I think losing a premium manufacturer will have more of an impact. It reduces the available choice, and ensures a narrower pool of specs and options when the time comes to buy. It’s not dissimilar to the phone market, really – everyone started buying iPhones, then every other manufacturer started making iPhone-like designs of their own to compete. Before you know it, the innovation has been stripped from the industry almost entirely.
Still, there’s at least one silver lining. Remaining Polestar inventory in the USA is currently being sold off with up to $25,000 discounts, meaning you could snag one for even less right now!