Polestar Nearly Dead In China
Polestar's former parent company, Volvo, has been owned by the Chinese automotive company Geely Holding Group since 2010, but that hasn't led to home court advantage in the world's largest car market. That might be because Polestar has essentially wound down operations, as CarNewsChina lays out. It only has one store in the whole country, in Shanghai, and Chinese customers are no longer able to order online. Test drives are by appointment only. Its joint venture with local company Star Meizu folded in April. That sure sounds like the carmaker was withering on the vine and was forced to scope down to almost nothing, which in turn reduced sales. It's a vicious cycle.
This is all despite the fact that EVs are booming in China. Or maybe it's because of it, as the competition Polestar faces, especially from domestic manufacturers, is stiff. Unless something pretty dramatic happens, Polestar might not even be in that market much longer.
Read more: These Are What You Wanted As First Cars (And What You Got Instead)
But The Rest Of The World Is All Sweet News
Yes, things are pretty bad for the EV maker, which just suffered... a 51% year-over-year growth in the first half of 2025 and just received a further $200 million equity investment from Geely? Turns out, even though China is shutting the door on it, Polestar is doing great everywhere else. It moved a total of 30,319 cars worldwide in that window. Not exactly huge numbers, but it's a newer brand, and that growth curve is looking mighty fine.
In fact, Polestar isn't alone with such mixed fortunes. Porsche just had its best H1 in America ever, at the exact same time that sales in China declined by 28%. It's looking like foreign carmakers are having difficulties in the country more generally. In the meantime, Polestar does have some new products on the horizon. The Polestar 4 crossover is already on sale in the U.S., with deliveries coming in the next few months. There are plenty of products coming down the pike as well; the Polestar 5 is a forthcoming sedan, the Polestar 6 will be a roadster, on the Polestar 7 will be a compact SUV. Combined with a new strategy tied to a traditional dealership model, there are a lot of reasons to think that the company has a bright future ahead of it, except in China.
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