Polestar, the premium brand of China’s Geely Holding Group, said on Monday it is “on track” to increase the number of its retail spaces by 75% before the end of 2026.
The Sweden-headquartered carmaker opened a new test drive and delivery centre in Canberra, Australia, as part of the strategy shift announced earlier this year to sell through local dealerships.
The business model, which is also the one chosen by several other Chinese carmakers in Europe such as BYD or XPeng, allows singificantly lower fixed costs for the loss-making brand.
The new site is the fifth retail location opened this year with the brand now also present across South Australia, regional Victoria and western Sydney.
“The expanded network of retail locations in Australia is part of Polestar’s global shift to an active selling model,” the company said, adding: “Together with its partners, Polestar is on track to increase retail spaces globally by 75% before the end of 2026.”
The company, led by Michael Lohscheller, ended 2022 with 99 selling points, rising to 153 by the end of 2023 and adding another 18 in 2024 to close last year with 175 — supported by Volvo Cars service centres, another brand under the Geely Holding umbrella.
According to its annual report, sales points include” retail locations which are physical facilities (such as showrooms), actively selling Polestar cars, and pre-space activations.”
In Australia, the Polestar 2 sedan — built at Geely’s Luqiao factory in Zhejiang since 2020 — is the brand’s entry model, starting at A$62,400 (US$40,600).
The Polestar 3 SUV, produced in Chengdu, China, and Volvo’s South Carolina plant, is priced from A$118,420 (US$77,050).
The Polestar 4, the fastest model in the line-up with a 0–100km/h time of 3.8 seconds, is currently assembled in Hangzhou Bay, China, with production due to begin in Busan, South Korea, later this year.
Prices start from A$78,500 in Australia. The Polestar 5 will join the brand’s line-up later this year.
In Europe, Polestar sold 2,667 vehicles in July across 11 of its 13 markets, up 22.2% from a year earlier but down 53.7% from June’s quarter-end peak of 5,756 registrations.
Polestar officially opened orders in France in early June, where it is partnering with Volvo’s retail network. The brand’s sales were not disclosed on official CCFA data for July.
The brand plans to grow its European retail footprint to more than 180 locations by 2027.
