Polestar denies rumors of a launch in France

Rumors like the Internet love to spread. According to several websites, Polestar, a 100% electric brand, a cousin of Volvo and owned by Chinese Geely, would arrive in France in 2025.

Contacted by us, Polestar Europe did not confirm this information. “We regularly review our international operations and our presence in specific markets as part of our long-term business plan. New markets are added if they are deemed commercially viable and support our growth planswe were told. So far, we have not announced any plans to enter the French market.“

Read also: Polestar will reduce its workforce

France is the only major European market where Polestar is not present. The reason was very simple: Citroën was in court with a Swedish brand that realized that its logo was too close to its own. An agreement was reached in 2022.

Difficult economic situation

Polestar’s current economic situation is difficult. Volvo soon withdrew from the brand. The Swede reduced its stake from 48% to 18%, following lower emissions targets in 2023. Polestar sales have declined over the past three quarters, including a 39% drop in the fourth quarter of 2023.

To compensate for these changes to the shareholder, Polestar has moved closer, according to our colleagues d’Autonews, from several banks to find new money. The brand said it has secured a $950 million loan over three years. The capital injection will finance the deployment of the product and cover “the majority“of his financial needs.

Breath of oxygen

“This marks a new phase in Polestar’s businesssaid the CEO Thomas Ingenlath in a press release. The efforts made in recent years are bearing fruit: we have improved our costs, secured financing and increased the speed of our product offensive.“

But will this be enough? As early as February 2024, Polestar said it needed $1.3 billion in financing before it could break even in 2025.

As a reminder, the company sells in Europe a segment D sedan, the Polestar 2, sold in Belgium from 44,990 euros and the Polestar 4, an SUV also from the D segment, from 64,800 euros. The C-segment SUV, the Polestar 3, is slated for the Chinese, US and European markets later this year.