Polestar opens a proper Irish dealership – is this the end of the agency model?
In
Sandyford Business Park
, just south of
Dublin
city, a white box is starting to emerge. It's appropriate for a brand keen on its environmental friendliness, built on a brownfield site, having once been a Telecom Éireann building. Now clad in bright white panels, with an acreage of plate glass, it's about to become the first proper dealership for
Polestar
.
Yet, it wasn't supposed to happen at all.
Polestar began life as an independent tuning and racing company, with a speciality in making Volvos go faster. Eventually, Polestar became part of
Volvo
, and was its in-house high-performance arm – sort of a Swedish AMG – which made rather lovely, rapid examples of the likes of the C30 hatchback and the V60 estate.
Then, in 2017, Polestar became a brand in its own right, spun off from Volvo and funded by the giant Chinese carmaker Geely, which owns Volvo, Lotus and part of Smart. The rationale? Polestar could do what Volvo couldn't, and become a truly sporty executive brand to take
BMW
and
Audi
head-on, and while it's doing that, it could also become a fully-electric brand.
READ MORE
It was a bold swing, as was the business model. Polestar wouldn't go down the route of normal franchised dealerships, but instead it would follow Tesla's lead and sell its cars directly, mostly online, with its only physical, customer-facing manifestation being 'spaces' such as pop-up stores in swanky shopping malls, or funky, trendy locations such as the cleverly repurposed shipping containers that house Polestar's current space in Ireland; a single-car display area, just adjacent to where its new Sandyford home is being built.
Polestar became, because of this, one of the poster boys for the 'agency model' of car sales.
What's the agency model? We've
covered this
in much greater detail before, but the quick recap is that car makers fancy having more control of the car sales chain. So, instead of selling their cars wholesale to independent, franchised dealers, sales will take place mostly online and the dealers will become agents for that sale, paid a flat fee for their efforts.
In theory, it allows car makers to smooth the kinks out of the journey from factory to customer, and this could potentially lead to a thicker profit margin.
It doesn't seem to be working. Brands across Europe and the world are starting to retreat from the agency model, and Polestar – the once and future poster boy – is one of them. Well, up to a point anyway.
For Polestar, this doesn't mean the agency model is dead. We have several business models in operation
—
Scott Dicken, Polestar's commercial director for Europe
As the Sandyford dealership starts to come together, Polestar has announced a new deal with OHM Group, which 'strengthens the collaboration with OHM Group to assume Polestar's sales and distribution operations in Ireland from 15 April 2025'.
OHM Group is a long-standing independent Irish car importer and distributor, which in the past has handled the likes of Saab, Daihatsu and Seat, and for much of the last two decades has been the distributor for Jaguar and Land Rover in Ireland.
The Polestar dealership (Polestar still insists upon calling it a 'space') will be run and managed by Spirit Motor Group, a part of OHM Group, which runs dealerships with franchises for Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Ford and others.
The new showroom will have space for seven cars – starting out with Polestar's existing three-car
EV
line-up of Polestar 2 saloon, Polestar 3 large SUV and Polestar 4 sleek crossover. Those will be joined later this year by a hugely powerful, long-range EV saloon called the Polestar 5 (which will rival the likes of the Porsche Taycan) and it will be followed by Polestar's first two-seat sports car, the Polestar 6.
Gerard O'Farrell, managing director of OHM Group's car division, said: 'We see a bright future for this distinctive, premium brand in Ireland and are delighted to play a key role in its continued development at a pivotal stage in Ireland's transition to electric vehicles.'
But what about the agency model? Dead? Not quite... When he took over the reins as chief executive, from the outgoing Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar's new boss Michael Lohscheller – formerly of Opel – decided that what the brand needed was not to be didactic about how it sells its cars.
In a review of the company's operations, published late last year, Lohscheller said: 'A lot of things need to change, starting with sales and distribution. I call it from showing to active selling. The company has done a good job setting up the direct-to-consumer baseline, now the key task is making sure that the active selling through retail partners is improving.'
Polestar is retreating, but not entirely withdrawing, from direct-to-consumer sales. Photograph:In other words, push on both buttons at once, something confirmed for The Irish Times by Polestar's commercial director for Europe, Scott Dicken. 'For Polestar, this doesn't mean the agency model is dead. We have several business models in operation across all our markets. Each model is adapted to suit the market dynamics and size.
'For Ireland, it makes sense to work more closely with retail partners like Spirit Motor Group. They help us optimise the value chain and customer experience in Ireland,' he said. 'The online element of our sales model remains core to our business in our markets. However, we do see that our customers appreciate a physical retail presence that allows them to see and experience our products. In addition, they can enjoy the human interaction and support during their purchase journey on-site.'
So Polestar is retreating, but not entirely withdrawing, from direct-to-consumer sales. What about the rest of the car industry? Well, it's a mixed bag...
BMW has made a start on this, moving its Mini sales to the agency model, but it now seems as if the move for the bigger brand will be delayed until well into 2026. Stellantis Group, which includes Peugeot, Citroen, Opel, Fiat, Jeep and more, has long been wary of the agency model, something exacerbated by a disastrous experiment with the idea in Belgium and there's no sign of it coming for those brands in Ireland.
[
Car review: The Polestar 4 is simply stellar when it comes to comfort
Opens in new window
]
Volkswagen Group
is dabbling, but while it's pressing ahead with an agency model for Ireland, in other major markets it has been shelved.
Marco Schubert, a member of VW's executive committee, said: 'The full agency with direct sales to customers clearly remains our guiding star in the long term. However, given changing framework conditions, we have to re-evaluate if our current agency model for all-electric vehicles delivers the best possible customer experience.'
As for Irish VW customers, a spokesperson for Volkswagen Group Ireland told The Irish Times: 'Volkswagen Group Ireland remains fully committed to its future sales strategy, ensuring we continue to deliver increased value, convenience and satisfaction to both our customers and our retail partners now and into the future.'
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