(Reuters) -Polestar’s third-quarter vehicle sales jumped, bolstered by resilient demand in the Swedish electric-vehicle maker’s home market of Europe despite a tough macroeconomic backdrop marked by tariffs and cautious consumer spending.
The company sold an estimated 14,192 cars in the third quarter, a rise of 13% over the year earlier, it said in a statement on Thursday.
Polestar has rolled out discounts and leasing incentives to boost EV sales, while U.S. trade tariffs on global trade partners weighed heavily on the automotive industry, prompting manufacturers to reconfigure supply chains and relocate production to soften the blow.
“The third quarter saw continued growth, and we have now sold as many cars as in the whole of 2024,” Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller said.
“Despite continued external headwinds and challenging market conditions, our line-up and strong order intake provide a solid basis for growth in the fourth quarter,” he said.
High debt burden and persistent losses also pushed Polestar to pivot strategically toward Europe, as it aimed to offset sagging demand in the U.S., where consumers remain wary of large purchases and increasingly favor hybrid and gasoline-powered vehicles.
The company reported a wider second-quarter loss last month, after tariffs and price pressure led to an impairment charge of its Polestar 3.
“We will not grow in the U.S. at any cost, because the financial exposure is then too high,” company executives had then said.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
Comments