Opinion: If I ran Polestar… I’d start building fast Volvos again

"If I ran the company..." The Drive team play 'fantasy football' with the automotive industry and take turns in the top seat of the big brands. What would we do if we ran the show? This time, Alex takes over Volvo-backed electric-car upstart Polestar.

Polestar – the electric-vehicle (EV) brand owned by Volvo and its Chinese parent company, Geely – is on something of a collision course with its sibling. To explain, let me recap.

Polestar began as a Volvo racing team in the late 1990s – under a different name – but by the mid-2010s, it had become Volvo’s official performance tuner churning out hot versions of Volvo road cars, before being acquired by its parent in 2015.

But come 2017 the script had flipped. Polestar was spun off to become its own brand building standalone 'electrified' performance cars distinct from existing Volvo models – though admittedly using Volvo architectures and technology.

Polestar’s first two standalone vehicles – the plug-in hybrid Polestar 1 coupe, and electric Polestar 2 sedan – were both revised versions of recent Volvo concept cars, on adapted Volvo petrol and hybrid-car platforms, albeit powered by drivetrains specific to Polestar (at the time of their launch).

When Polestar was spun off, the picture contemporary reports painted was for Polestar to be the pioneering electric-car brand – with a focus on performance – while Volvo would gradually move away from petrol power as it rolled out its own electric vehicles.

But since then, Volvo has announced plans to cease sales of petrol vehicles globally in 2030 – or in Australia four years earlier – and has accelerated its electric-car plans to the point that it already has a larger range of electric vehicles than its EV-only sister brand.

Executives say cars from the two companies will stand on their own, and will be differentiated through performance and styling. But their latest models, the Polestar 3 and Volvo EX90, share electric motors and batteries, and although they wear unique bodywork, look rather similar for brands trying to tread their own paths.

Future Polestar cars due from 2024 are set to be based on the company’s own underpinnings, move further away from Volvo design, and take a step up in performance.

But nonetheless, the company will increasingly find itself in an odd spot competing on the same turf as Volvo and vying for a similar buyer – without one of its main differentiators of an electric-only model range.

The solution? Steer back towards Polestar’s roots as Volvo’s speed shop.

The model I’m proposing is very similar to that of Volkswagen’s Spanish subsidiary Seat, which spun off its 20-year Cupra performance division into a standalone brand in 2018 – to great success.

This would mean a showroom comprised of Polestar’s standalone electric models – which would compete in sportier segments that Volvo doesn’t play in – plus a host of high-performance versions of electric Volvos.

Whereas Polestar today is attempting to start fresh and build its own identity – but perhaps remaining a bit too close to Volvo – my Polestar of the future would embrace its Volvo roots, while doubling down on performance as its unique selling point.

As part of Polestar’s remodel, all top-of-the-range, high-performance versions of Volvo’s current electric cars would ditch Volvo badging – becoming the Polestar XC40, C40, EX90, etc – leaving the Volvo range to consist of cheaper, less potent versions.

It’s the same strategy that sees Seat’s Volkswagen Golf sibling in Europe, the Seat Leon hatchback, sold as the Cupra Leon in high-performance trim, and hot Fiat 500 hatchbacks marketed as Abarth 500s.

Yes, it will technically make the most powerful models with Volvo badges slower, as the previous flagship models would become Polestars.

But if the Swedish marque aspires to be a top global luxury carmaker, I’d argue it still needs a proper BMW M or Mercedes-AMG rival to sprinkle the fairy-dust on standard models in its range – even as the world moves to electric cars.

How will the Volvo-based Polestars be distinguished? In the same way as any M or AMG car – more power, stiffer suspension, larger brakes, sharper dynamics, and a sportier look, including the company’s hero Rebel Blue (later Cyan Racing Blue) paint.

Volvo’s current electric cars have one or two electric motors – and power up to 380kW – but the top models in the repositioned Polestar line-up would need closer to 500kW to rival Tesla’s fastest offerings, which could be delivered by three or four electric motors.

Don’t think Polestar would stop developing its own standalone cars. There’s still room for Polestar cars that don’t have a Volvo equivalent, on two criteria – they don’t cannibalise sales of equivalent Volvo models, and they’re offered primarily in high-performance trims.

So there’s a future for the Polestar 3 and 4 SUVs – which are lower and sleeker than equivalent Volvos – and the upcoming Polestar 6 roadster that’s gunning for the Porsche 911.

However, executives may need to choose between the upcoming Polestar 5 and Volvo 'ES90' sedans, and consider rebranding entry-level, single-motor versions of the Polestar 2 sedan as the Volvo ‘ES40’.

Unlike Polestar’s current strategy, which guns for Porsche, these new cars would compete at the level of German rivals Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW. Geely already has the Lotus brand as its challenger for the maker of the 911.

Polestar’s ‘Optimisation’ packs for existing Volvo petrol and hybrid cars – which are essentially software tunes that boost power and torque – can stick around to complement the new electric range.

If there’s money left in Geely’s bank accounts, why not consider a proper return to motorsport? Perhaps not another entry into Australia’s V8 Supercars series, but if Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Porsche race in a mix of Formula One and GT sports cars, surely there’s a suitable race series out there for Polestar?

My vision for Polestar would also see it change the way it sells its cars.

I would take Mercedes-AMG and BMW M’s lead in fostering a network of joint Volvo-Polestar showrooms – which cordon off a section of Volvo dealers for Polestar cars, with their own look and feel, and Polestar-specialised sales staff.

Polestar’s current retail shopfronts – known as Spaces – are good for a standalone brand, but if Polestar cars are to be repositioned as hot Volvos, vehicles from the two brands should be sold alongside each other.

Whether Polestar in its new form would still use the fixed-price, non-negotiable ‘agency’ sales model is up for debate, but it would likely stick around, given Volvo is already trialling the model in the UK and Sweden (though it isn’t planned for Australia for now).

Would this new strategy work? With only one model in showrooms, Polestar sold about 51,000 cars last year – compared to Volvo’s 615,000 – with 40 per cent of those cars delivered in the final 25 per cent of the year. That’s a solid result.

BMW M’s best-selling car last year was the i4 M50 electric vehicle, and sales of performance cars in general are on the up across the big three German luxury brands – so more choice in Volvo showrooms for fast-car buyers would only be a good thing.