Polestar Australia to open its first retail Space showroom concept in Melbourne

The Polestar Space in Oslo’s main shopping district. Images: Polestar

Polestar Australia announces its first retail "Space" will open in Victoria at the Chadstone Shopping Centre this summer. Spaces are an opportunity for prospective customers to get up close to the cars, without the pressure of the traditional dealership model (similar to Tesla).

The award-winning Space concept has been designed to supplement the brand’s digital-first retail model, providing customers with an environment to connect with the brand, take a test drive, and experience the customer-centric approach of its team.

Specialists, rather than salespeople, staff Polestar spaces meaning that there's room for customers to explore at their own pace and seek expert assistance if required to help with questions without the pressure of a sale.

Samantha Johnson, Head of Polestar Australia said, “We are excited to announce the location of our first Polestar Space. Chadstone Shopping Centre is a destination, and Australia’s largest shopping precinct.

“Our Space concept has been carefully designed to reflect the brand’s minimalist brand philosophy while presenting a welcoming environment in which customers can experience the all-electric Polestar 2 at leisure. 

 It’s not clear whether the new Chadstone Space will offer a service facility; Polestar’s Australian website still states that service locations are coming soon. We understand that presently, servicing and warranty work is either arranged through the collection of customer vehicles, temporary Polestar Spaces, or select Volvo dealerships.

Polestar hits global target of 29,000 sales in 2021, plans to launch SUV in 2022

The Polestar 2 launched in Australia in 2021, ahead of customer deliveries in Q1 2022. Images: Polestar

Polestar is an automaker with one model — the Polestar 2 sedan — in its line up, and is less than five years old as a company. It has also overcome global supply chain shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver on its 2021 targets, achieving 29,000 sales for the calendar year, representing year-on-year growth above 185 percent.

The automaker is admittedly backed by some big players; Chinese conglomerate Geely Holdings and Volvo, and is eyeing an investment deal with Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Gores Guggenheim Inc. in 2022.

Polestar increased its global presence from 10 to 19 markets in 2021, with growth in Europe and Asia Pacific. In the first half of 2022, Polestar plans to add Spain, Portugal and Ireland to its European market footprint, and enter the Middle East with presence in the UAE, Kuwait and Israel. By the end of 2023, Polestar aims to be operating in at least 30 global markets.

Polestar launched its brand in Australia late in 2021, with media events and customer test drive pop-up locations. Customer deliveries are expected to commence in the first half of 2022, and retail “Spaces” will also be opened in prominent metropolitan areas.

Polestar now has over 100 retail locations globally, and expects to increase that by 50 percent by the end of 2022.

“We are delivering on our targets,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. “It is a hugely exciting time for the brand, with new markets and models to support the ambitious growth plans we have set for ourselves. Thanks to the relentless dedication of Polestar employees across the globe, we are progressing with confidence towards our proposed public listing.”

Mike Whittington, Polestar’s Head of Sales, adds: “With strong new market launches and the fantastic reception of an expanded Polestar 2 model line-up, we have seen interest in Polestar and vehicle sales increase in all our markets. Our order intake is strong and we are looking forward to further growth in our sales volume again in 2022.”

In 2021, Polestar also announced its plans to launch three new cars in the coming three years. Polestar 3, a premium electric performance SUV, is set to launch in 2022 and will be the first Polestar to be built in the US (in Volvo’s Ridgeville, South Carolina factory). Polestar 3 will benefit from advanced technologies from Luminar (LiDAR), Nvidia (GPUs) and Zenseact (autonomous technology) that will provide cutting-edge unsupervised autonomous driving functionality according to the company.

The Polestar 3 SUV will be revealed in 2022, and should become the brand’s biggest seller.

Polestar to be a Virtual Brand in Australia; 2021 Launch Possible

Image: Polestar

Volvo Cars Australia Managing Director Nick Connor confirms that Polestar will operate independently from Volvo when the brand launches here sometime in 2021. Connor told the Carsales network that “The Polestar plan is to sell directly, digitally, using Polestar spaces in what amounts to downtown locations. The cars will be serviced, maintained and supported by Volvo dealers”.

Reflecting the premium positioning of the brand, Polestar customers will not have to worry about taking their Polestar 2 to the dealership for service, with the brand planning to offer a pickup/dropoff service. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the worldwide release of the Polestar 2 has been delayed, meaning that the Australian introduction is unlikely before the fourth quarter of 2021.

Source: Carsales

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Our Opinion: Any new brand entering Australia’s fiercely competitive premium sedan market has the difficult task of balancing extremely high customer expectations against business costs. If Polestar can provide a premium experience, streamlining the sales and servicing processes for its customers, it may gain market share from Tesla and other premium offerings. COVID-19 has also changed the nature of our downtown areas/central business districts, with so many people looking to work remotely-at least some of the time-for the foreseeable future. Will Polestar still look to create pop-up ‘spaces’, in cities in Australia, could that money be better spent on the delivery and aftersales experience for customers?