Volvo’s new stand-alone luxury EV company Polestar is debuting its new Polestar 2 for the Canadian market in Toronto. The city was chosen first of all for demographic reasons, as a large percentage of the potential customers for the model in Canada are found there, but also for the advanced electric recharging infrastructure it benefits from, according to Greg Hembrough, head of Polestar Americas.
The irony of course is that Ontario no longer offers a government purchase incentive to buyers or leasers of an electric vehicle.
The Polestar 2 is the follow-up to the Polestar 1, but unlike that car, the Polestar 2 aims at a wider clientele. The Polestar is getting a production run of just 500 units for its initial 2020 run, while the Polestar 2 will go on sale in June 2020 and won’t be a limited in its production. Starting price is set at $69,900 at the outset, but the company plans to roll out less-expensive versions later on.
The five-door liftback won’t be available everywhere in the country, however. Polestar is restricting points of sale to Canada’s three largest urban centres: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Said Hembrough, “we are very close to finalizing our relationships” with auto dealerships in those cities.
Different business model
Polestar outlets will be managed by current Volvo dealerships, though they will get their own location and won’t operate the same way as a traditional dealer. Nor will the model be fashioned after the Tesla model. Polestar sales centres will be small, around 270 square-metres, and feature two or three models on display along with three of four product specialists on site to answer questions or organize test drives for potential buyers. These specialists will not work on commission.
Polestar outlets will not carry any inventory, rather company representatives will place customer orders from the factory, or from the boat or the port where vehicles are located if in transit.
Once firmly established in the three big centres, Polestar wants to expand its reach to include cities like Quebec City and Calgary, for example.
The goal of the model is to ensure the profitability of each retail outlet by keeping overhead to a minimum. Expanding the number of sales points will come when existing outlets have gained their footing.
And if you’re wondering about where you’ll get your future Polestar vehicle serviced, that will be handled at existing Volvo centres.
