Polestar 3 ‘aerodynamic electric performance SUV’ teased

Polestar is cementing itself as a global brand by confirming it will build the new Polestar 3 in the United States.

The brand scheduled to arrive in Australia late in 2021 is part-owned by Volvo and its parent company Geely; like Volvo it has its headquarters in Sweden and is inspired by some of Volvo’s clean, stark styling cues. Polestar will manufacture the upcoming Tesla-fighting Polestar 2 in China, the home of Geely, while the yet-to-be-unveiled Polestar 3 will be manufactured in South Carolina – at least for some markets.

Describing the Polestar 3 as “an aerodynamic electric performance SUV”, the company has only released a single image of the car still under wraps. It shows a car with bold proportions and a muscular silhouette, large wheel arches bulging through a white car cover (see above).

UPDATE: Polestar confirms Polestar 3, Polestar 4 and Polestar 5

“Polestar 3 will be built in America, for our American customers,” says Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath.

“I remember the great response when I first shared Polestar’s vision here in the USA and I am proud that our first SUV will be manufactured in South Carolina. From now on, the USA is no longer an export market but a home market.”

Clearly building cars in America for Americans is a biggie for such a patriotic country.

Not that Volvo is a stranger to manufacturing in the US. The manufacturing plant Polestar will use was opened by Volvo in 2018 to manufacture the XC90 for the American market (our XC90s are sourced from Sweden).

Besides, there are many details yet to be released, although it seems logical the Polestar 3 will be sold in Australia, giving the fledgling brand a second model next year alongside the Polestar 2 that is expected to take the fight to the Tesla Model Y.

However, don’t bank on them coming from that US factory. The Polestar 3 is also expected to be manufactured in China, where Volvo now sources the XC40 and XC60 from for Australia. It’s likely our Polestar 3s will come from China.

Details of the new Polestar 3 are thin on the ground for now, but Polestar has confirmed it will debut the next generation EV architecture that will also underpin some Volvo models (and, eventually, some Geely cars and its EV offshoot Zeekr). And clearly performance will be a big focus, so two motors for all-wheel drive traction is highly likely.

It will also have a big tech focus. Polestar says the 3 will “feature industry-leading connectivity features based on Google’s native Android Automotive OS infotainment system, as well as high-end, safety-focused autonomous driving features”.