Geely-backed EV brand Polestar registered 1,076 vehicles in the UK last month, according to data published on Tuesday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT).
Sales rose 25.3% year over year, despite declining by around 1,000 units sequentially — as Polestar‘s UK registrations fluctuate monthly due to shipping logistics from its overseas plants.
First-quarter registrations had increased 12.3% year over year to 4,151 units. However, March sales represented a 1% decline year over year.
The UK was Polestar‘s best-performing European market in the quarter.
In 2025, Polestar registered 16,959 EVs in the country, doubling the prior year.
UK EV Adoption
The UK new car market grew 24.0% to 149,247 registrations last month, according to the SMMT.
The increase reflects a rebound from an unusually weak April last year, when buyers pulled purchases forward to March to beat incoming vehicle tax changes.
April remains a traditionally low-volume month; however, this year market the best results in seven years.
Last month, the two millionth fully electric vehicle was registered in the UK.
The powertrain saw a 59.1% growth year over year, with a market share of 26.2% across all powertrains.
Year to date, BEVs account for 23.1% of the market — still well short of the 33% required by the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, despite billions in manufacturer discounts and the introduction of the Electric Car Grant last year.
The latest SMMT outlook projects total 2026 registrations at 2.093 million, up 3.6%, but has downgraded the BEV share forecast to 26.8% from 28.5% following an underperforming first quarter.
Starting in April 2028, electric vehicles will be subject to a pay-per-mile road charge similar to the duty currently applied to combustion vehicles.
The change follows the introduction of Vehicle Excise Duty for EVs in April 2025, which starts at £10 in the first year and rises to £195 from the second year onward.
Lineup
Polestar‘s UK portfolio includes the Polestar 2 sedan, the Polestar 3 and 4 SUVs, and the most recently launched Polestar 5 GT.
The Polestar 5 debuted last September at Germany’s IAA Auto Show. The grand tourer is priced from £89,500 ($121,200).
Deliveries were originally expected in spring 2026 but have since slipped to summer, according to the brand’s website.
Both the Dual Motor and Performance launch editions are available.
The UK was the first market to receive the upgraded Polestar 3, released late last year.
The British website lists the new version from £71,540 ($96,900), with a £5,000 seasonal offer applied across all variants.
As of Tuesday, the timeline has shifted to “September-October 2026.”
In March, Volvo and Polestar announced that the Polestar 3 will be exclusively produced at Volvo’s South Carolina plant. The SUV was previously manufactured both there and in China.
The SMMT does not break down registrations by model.
EV tracking platform EU-EVs reports that the Polestar 4 accounted for 606 units in April, with the 2 sedan accounting for 312 units.
2026 Outlook
Despite its sales performance in the UK, Polestar is struggling to pick up demand in other markets across the globe.
The company quietly cut its 2026 sales growth target in February, alongside the announcement of what it described as the “largest model offensive in its history.”
Polestar guides for “low double-digit volume growth” in 2026 — implying roughly 10–15%.
The figures are about 20 percentage points below the 30–35% compound annual retail sales growth target for 2025–2027 set a year earlier.
Polestar met its 2025 guidance by delivering approximately 60,119 vehicles, a 34% year-over-year increase, with over 46,000 registered in Europe, according to data compiled by EV.
Q1 Results
Under the previous target, Polestar had been on a path toward 78,000 to 81,000 deliveries in 2026.
The revised outlook implies roughly 66,000 to 69,000 units.
At the first-quarter run rate of 13,126 units, an annualized figure of approximately 52,500 would fall short of even the revised target — suggesting Polestar will need a significant second-half acceleration.
The company posted a $2.36 billion net loss for 2025 but crossed into adjusted gross profitability in the fourth quarter for the first time since going public.
Full-year revenue crossed $3 billion for the first time, climbing 50.3% to $3.06 billion.
