Polestar said on Monday it is expanding into three new European markets, lifting its presence in its strongest region to 31 countries.
The brand, backed by China’s Geely Holding Group, is entering Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania through a local distributor.
The expansion is being carried out with Volvo Car Baltic, using its existing network of retailers in the region — the brand said.
Polestar‘s first dedicated showroom will open in Tallinn, Estonia, later this month, followed by sites in Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania, in the second half of the year.
“Expanding into the Baltic region is a natural next step for Polestar as we continue to grow in Europe, and is part of our journey to grow our sales network in 2026 to 250 locations globally,” Chief Commercial Officer Scott Dicken said.
He added that the brand is reshaping its retail network around test drives to make its cars easier to experience, and called operating in more than 30 markets a significant milestone for a young brand.
Europe remains Polestar‘s largest region, accounting for 78% of total retail sales in the first quarter of 2026.
A Retail-Led Expansion
The Baltic entry fits a strategy centered on widening the retail footprint rather than chasing volume through discounting.
Polestar operated 230 retail sales points globally at the end of the first quarter, up about 50% from a year earlier, and is targeting 250 by the end of 2026.
The company pointed to the Baltic region’s charging infrastructure, citing access to more than 2,800 charging points across the three countries through its Polestar Charge service.
The move follows the brand’s 2025 push into seven new markets, including France, and extends a distributor-based model it has used for recent entries.
It also leans on the broader Geely group: Volvo, Polestar‘s former parent and now a sister brand under Geely, provides the Baltic retail network.
A Mixed European Picture
The expansion lands as Polestar‘s European sales show sharp month-to-month swings.
The brand registered more than 3,000 vehicles across its European markets in April, according to data compiled by EV from national agencies and the EU-EVs platform, down from 5,117 in March.
The sequential drop reflects a seasonal pattern, as March marks a registration peak in several markets, particularly the UK, where quarterly plate changes lift volumes.
Polestar sold more than 10,500 vehicles in Europe in the first quarter, a slight increase from 9,478 a year earlier, and reported a record first-quarter global figure of 13,126 retail sales, up 7%.
The monthly swings stem largely from the brand’s dependence on shipping cycles from plants in China, the United States and South Korea.
Key Markets
The United Kingdom was again Polestar‘s largest European market in April, with 1,076 registrations, a 25% year-on-year increase, down from 2,406 in March.
The UK was the brand’s best-performing European market in both 2024 and 2025, when it registered 16,959 vehicles in the country, double the prior year.
The five Nordic markets together accounted for roughly 1,119 units in April, about 37% of the brand’s estimated European total for the month.
Polestar recently opened orders in Sweden for the revamped Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, priced from 924,000 and 619,000 kronor respectively.
In Germany, Europe’s largest auto market, Polestar registered 250 vehicles in April, down 17%, interrupting first-quarter momentum that had lifted registrations 50.2% to 1,284 units.
May figures for the German market have not yet been released.
Southern Europe continued to grow from a low base, with Portugal, Spain and Italy combining for 177 registrations.
Guidance and Headwinds
The April results arrive at what the company has described as the year of its most aggressive product expansion since it was spun off as a standalone brand in 2017.
Polestar is guiding for low double-digit volume growth in 2026, implying roughly 66,000 to 69,000 deliveries globally, down from the 30% to 35% compound annual growth target it set a year earlier.
The brand delivered about 60,119 vehicles in 2025, of which more than 46,000 were registered in Europe.
The product push comes amid increasing financial pressure.
Polestar‘s first-quarter gross margin swung to negative 3.2%, from positive 10.3% a year earlier, with revenue roughly flat at $633 million despite the volume gain.
The company has raised $1 billion in new equity since December and secured a $600 million loan from Geely to support its balance sheet.
The brand’s ties to its sister company have deepened as the wider Geely group consolidates: Volvo, once Polestar‘s majority owner before divesting most of its stake to Geely in 2024, has agreed to convert more than $300 million of Polestar debt into equity, and Polestar 3 production has shifted to Volvo’s plant in South Carolina.
Model Offensive
Upgraded versions of the Polestar 3 SUV and the Polestar 4, now described as a coupé, have been rolled out across several European markets and Canada.
The Polestar 3’s main change is an 800-volt electrical architecture that cuts 10-to-80% charging time to 22 minutes and lifts peak DC charging to 350 kW.
The Polestar 5 grand tourer, the brand’s first model on its in-house Polestar Performance Architecture, debuted at the IAA show last September and is expected to begin customer deliveries in the summer, with up to 650 kW of output and a starting price of £89,500 in the UK and €118,600 in Germany.
A next-generation Polestar 2 is planned for early 2027, while the Polestar 7 compact SUV is slated for 2028, with production set for Volvo’s plant in Košice, Slovakia.
