Thomas Ingenlath, the former chief executive of Polestar, has rejoined China’s Geely Group in a senior design advisory role, marking a return to the automotive conglomerate less than a year after leaving the premium brand.
Ingenlath, who led Polestar from its inception in 2017 to 2023, has been appointed senior design adviser to the Geely Group and is now based in Gothenburg, where the group’s Swedish operations are headquartered under Geely Sweden Holdings.
His role will involve working across multiple brands within the group, including Geely Auto, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Lotus, Polestar, Smart, among others.
The appointment was confirmed by Volvo Cars’ CEO Håkan Samuelsson, who told Automotive News that Ingenlath is reporting directly to Geely founder and chairman Eric Li.
“He will work on design-focused special projects at the brands,” Samuelsson said, adding that Ingenlath is expected to serve as a coach for Volvo’s design team.
“He has an excellent feel for what good design should look like going forward… I talk to him a lot to hear his opinion. He can give me some tips also on what I should do — or not do.”
A Geely spokesperson clarified that Ingenlath’s new role is advisory in nature, rather than managerial.
Ingenlath first joined Volvo in 2012 as Senior Vice President of Design, where he oversaw a design renaissance that included the second-generation XC90, the V40 hatchback, and a series of concept vehicles such as the Concept Coupé and Concept 40.2.
The latest laid the foundation for the design language that carried over to Polestar’s first mass-produced model, the Polestar 2.
He was named CEO of Polestar in 2017, a role he held until his departure on October 1, 2024.
His exit was announced just days after the company confirmed the departure of its design chief Maximilian Missoni — who then joined BMW.
Ingenlath was succeeded by Michael Lohscheller, the former CEO of Opel, VinFast and the now-bankrupt Nikola.
Geely Holding operates more than 30,000 R&D and design staff globally, with centres located in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Gothenburg, Coventry, California, and Frankfurt.
