Polestar reintroduced the Polestar 2 fastback in Canada on Wednesday — restoring the brand to a three-model line-up in the market and ending a period in which the entry car was sold only as off-lease, pre-owned stock.
The sharply lower import tariffs — down to 6.1% from the 100% rate imposed in 2024 — allows the EV brand to be competitive again in the Canadian market.
Orders for the 2027 Polestar 2 opened with pricing starting at C$69,900 ($51,100) for the Long-range dual-motor variant, according to Polestar.
The return adds the fastback alongside the Polestar 3 SUV and Polestar 4 coupé, both of which opened Canadian orders in May.
“With over 7,300 Polestar 2s on Canadian roads to date, we know there’s demand from our customers, so it’s with great joy we announce the return of Polestar 2 to Canada,” Head of Polestar Canada Hugues Bissonnette stated.
Single Variant, Bundled Specification
Polestar simplified the Canadian offer to a single, heavily bundled configuration.
The fastback is sold only in the Long range Dual motor specification, with the Pilot, Plus and Climate packs fitted as standard.
Nineteen-inch Aero wheels are included, and buyers choose from five exterior colours: Vapor, Storm, Midnight, Space and Snow.
The car develops 310 kW (421 hp) and 546 lb-ft of torque, completing 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds. Polestar quotes a total EPA range of 447 km for the variant.
The 2027 model carries an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon core processor that Polestar says makes the infotainment system more responsive, supporting faster in-car app downloads, quicker reaction times within apps and smoother overall operation.
The hardware change mirrors the brand’s broader push to refresh the compute platforms across its line-up, after the upgraded Polestar 3 moved its central computer from Nvidia’s DRIVE AGX Xavier to the more powerful DRIVE AGX Orin processor, lifting computing performance more than eightfold.
The reintroduced car is the current-generation Polestar 2, not the all-new successor the company has scheduled.
Polestar has confirmed a next-generation Polestar 2 sedan, built as a completely new model, for early 2027 as part of its model offensive.
From Pre-Owned Only to New Sales
The Polestar 2 had retreated to pre-owned status in Canada under the weight of trade barriers.
The fastback is produced in China, at plants in Taizhou and Chengdu, and Canada’s 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles — aligned in 2024 with duties imposed under the Biden Administration — pushed the model out of new-car showrooms.
Through its website, Polestar had instead sold previously leased and returned Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 units as imports of new vehicles thinned.
That barrier eased after Ottawa and Beijing reached a new trade agreement. Canada dropped the 100% tariff and set a 6.1% rate, opening the door to an annual import quota of 49,000 China-produced vehicles. B
issonnette had earlier flagged the possibility that the lower tariff would let Polestar reintroduce the Polestar 2, which to that point was available only as pre-owned stock.
Geely’s Wider Canadian Push
The Polestar 2’s return is one strand of a broader Geely advance into Canada under the new framework.
Sister marque Lotus launched the Eletre SUV in Canada on April 24 from C$119,900 ($87,900), a price the company said was roughly 50% below the C$313,500 top-spec Carbon variant that was the only trim listed under the prior 100% tariff regime.
Lotus then shipped its first batch of 18 Eletre units from Shanghai in early May, becoming the first manufacturer to physically deliver Chinese-made EVs into the country under the agreement.
The Eletre is built at Geely’s Wuhan plant, and Lotus operates six authorized Canadian dealerships, with plans to reach 12 by year-end.
Geely’s group structure gives it a head start that rivals lack.
Through Lotus, Volvo and Polestar — all of which hold existing Canadian regulatory approvals and dealer networks — the group can route Chinese- and overseas-built EVs into the market while brands such as BYD and Chery work toward their own entries.
Volvo has said it is “looking into” using the quota to relaunch the EX90 from China.
The quota route remains contested ground: Canadian officials are weighing whether to cap how much of the 49,000-unit allocation any single automaker can claim, a measure that would shape how much volume each brand — and each group — can route through the arrangement.
Production Base
The Polestar 2’s return completes a Canadian portfolio assembled from three production bases.
The Polestar 3 is built at Volvo‘s plant in South Carolina, which Polestar confirmed would be the model’s exclusive production site going forward.
The Polestar 4 reaches Canada from Busan, South Korea, where it is produced in collaboration with Renault Korea; Canada accepted its first Korean-built Polestar 4s at the start of the year.
The Polestar 2 now adds Chinese-built supply under the lower tariff.
The multi-country sourcing reflects the strategy Polestar Canada outlined in February, when it described balancing Polestar 4 imports from South Korea against Polestar 3 shipments from the United States to navigate the 25% tariff on autos and parts that has applied between Canada and the US.
Bissonnette said at the time the brand would limit the tariff impact on consumers, framing the segment as competitive and the pricing as broadly in line with the market.
Canada’s revived line-up contrasts with the United States, where tariffs on Chinese imports have kept part of the range out of the market.
Polestar suspended US Polestar 2 orders in April 2025 over the 25% China tariffs and had sold through all US Polestar 2 inventory by December, leaving American buyers with pre-owned units only.
Brand Backdrop
The Canadian reintroduction lands as Polestar works through a difficult financial stretch.
The company posted a $2.4 billion net loss for 2025 but crossed into adjusted gross profitability in the fourth quarter.
First-quarter 2026 retail sales rose 7% to an estimated 13,126 vehicles, a record for the period, though Q1 gross margin swung negative as cash fell 42% over three months.
Polestar plans to begin customer deliveries of the Polestar 5 grand tourer from this summer and to launch the Polestar 7 compact SUV, to be produced at Volvo’s Košice plant in Slovakia, in 2028.
Polestar Chief Executive Michael Lohscheller has said Scandinavian design and the brand’s sustainability framing remain its core differentiators from Volvo Cars and Zeekr under Geely Holding.
The 2027 Polestar 2 is available to order in Canada via polestar.com from June 3.
