“You can’t go burning stuff”: Polestar boss says Audi, BMW and Benz only “dabble” in EVs
The new boss of Polestar Australia has taken a swipe at the EV specialist’s luxury rivals because they continue to invest in polluting internal combustion engines.
At the same time Scott Maynard urged potential EV buyers to look past Polestar’s current financial issues and recent global management changes and reassured them about the brand’s future.
“You can’t go burning stuff,” said Maynard, who has officially been in the top local Polestar job since July.
“What differentiates us is they [luxury rivals] just do this thing [EV] on the side. We are committed to EV.
“They just dabble in it.”
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Maynard’s comments were primarily aimed at the German big three Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, who along with Japan’s Lexus still feature internal combustion engines (ICE) in the vast bulk of their models.
In recent times as EV sales have slowed, some luxury brands including Benz and Polestar’s former parent Volvo have delayed their transition to EV and upped their investment in ICE.
But Polestar only builds EVs. It has just added the Polestar 3 large SUV alongside the 2 crossover and will soon launch the Polestar 4 medium SUV.
The Polestar 5 GT sedan and 6 sports car are scheduled to launch in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
Maynard said a fully electric line-up was critical if Polestar was to live up to its green philosophy.
Polestar has set itself the goal of creating a truly climate-neutral car by 2030 and eliminating all supply chain, manufacturing and end-of-life emissions.
“The advantage [of no ICE] points back to that [Polestar] sustainability message,” he said.
“It just demonstrates a commitment to make sure what we are doing doesn’t impact the environment.
“I think what sets Polestar apart … critically is its sustainability message.
“You can do in this car what you can in lot of cars.
“But the message we give on sustainability is something that can be demonstrated, can be proven and it’s a cradle to grave approach that is measurable.”
“That definitely appeals,” said Maynard.
“It is great to have something that … doesn’t do EV on the side but is dedicated to EV in the premium space.”
Meanwhile, another form of sustainability involving Polestar has been garnering headlines and that’s whether the company can survive its growing pains.
The company’s founding global boss Thomas Ingenlath, a former car designer, has now been replaced as CEO by Michael Lohscheller, an auto executive with a more orthodox CV running Opel – and briefly VinFast and Nikola – as well as being the chief financial officer at Volkswagen in North America.
Lohscheller is taking over a business that is experiencing substantial financial difficulties. It has failed to hit sales targets for a variety of reasons including the global slowdown in EV sales, has been dropping hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter and its share value dipped up to 90 per cent within two years of its spin-off from former parent Volvo.
Volvo, which still has an 18 per cent share, has recently declined to invest more funding into Polestar, prompting Geely – the parent of both companies – to step in with financial backing.
Maynard said these changes should be reassuring for potential Polestar buyers.
“It’s been really healthy for Polestar to move from investment by Volvo to investment by Geely because that enables another degree of separation, independence and individuality which I think is going to suit the brand really, really well.
“[Lohscheller] has been quite clear we remain EV only, we remain committed to the sustainability message and the design-led brand that we have been.
“So not fundamental change at the moment. But accountability is something that is going to be at the forefront, to make sure we are doing everything right, we have the numbers right and the sales model is the right one.”
