Polestar 3 production is pushed to the first quarter of 2024.
Polestar has slashed its 2023 volume forecast by as much as a quarter and announced a delay — its second — in launching its high-volume electric crossover.
Polestar 3 production is pushed to the first quarter of 2024 because of software development issues plaguing affiliate Volvo’s new electric platform, which underpins the midsize crossover. Polestar 3 production was to begin in August, according to AutoForecast Solutions.
Platform development snafus have also delayed Volvo’s EX90 flagship.
Production of the electric crossover was scheduled to begin at Volvo’s North Charleston, South Carolina, factory in December 2023. Volvo said that output is now expected to begin in the first half of next year.
U.S. deliveries of the three-row electric crossover are pushed to the third quarter of 2024, a source briefed on the matter told Automotive News.
Revised forecast
Polestar now expects 2023 global volumes of 60,000 to 70,000, compared with its earlier forecast of about 80,000 units. Polestar delivered 51,491 units last year.
The automaker also said it is taking the knife to costs. Polestar said it would cut global headcount 10 percent, or about 300 jobs, and institute a global hiring freeze.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said the company is “taking necessary steps to strengthen” the company in the near term.
“I am confident that we will deliver on our growth ambitions and path towards profitability,” Ingenlath said in a statement.
The latest delay in launching Polestar’s second model — and an essential U.S. market product — puts further pressure on Polestar’s retailers struggling with limited inventory from a single sedan model.
Polestar dealer Mathew Haiken now expects to see customer deliveries of Polestar 3 begin in June next year.
The pushback puts “a lot of stress” on the retail network, the CEO of Polestar Short Hills in New Jersey told Automotive News.
“The EV market is uber-competitive; everybody is super-aggressive,” he said. “We need throughput; we need product. It’s an SUV world and the Polestar 2 is not an SUV.”
