But it’s on amicable terms.
Volvo’s performance arm Polestar is set to no longer be ‘Volvo’s performance arm,’ as the latter company has announced ‘The End’ of its phase as a sub-brand. As communicated previously, the future will see Polestar stand alone as its own marque, focused on high-performance highly-electrified motor cars, like the kind that could give Tesla a headache.
Polestar’s plans for the future are expected to be revealed in a few weeks’ time, where speculation hints that the company will pull the wraps off a 450kW++ super-coupé, built off the very latest battery-electric technology from the brand. Moves were made to shore up Polestar’s future back in May, when Volvo design boss Thomas Ingenlath was appointed to the role of Polestar CEO as part of Volvo’s push for a unique brand within its wings.
“Thomas [Ingenlath] heading up the Polestar organisation shows our commitment to establishing a truly differentiated stand-alone brand within the Volvo Car Group. Polestar will be credible competitor in the emerging global market for high-performance electrified cars. With Polestar, we are able to offer electrified cars to the worlds’ most demanding, progressive drivers in all market segments.” — Håkan Samuelsson, CEO, Volvo Cars
Marking the formal dissolution of their exclusive relationship, Polestar took to Instagram and posted a single image with the words, ‘The End’ in the centre, offering no caption. During his appointment, Polestar CEO Ingenlath said that “the next chapter in Polestar’s history is just beginning,” so maybe it’s less of an ‘end’ than it might seem.
Moving forwards, Polestar is expected to continue offering ‘optimisation’ parts and packages for Volvo cars, so it certainly isn’t the end of high-performance Volvos. There’ll be plenty of behind-the-scenes work too, as Polestar is expected to share technology and platforms with Volvo and other Geely marques, and will likely benefit greatly from the Chinese conglomerate’s recent acquisition of Lotus through PROTON.
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