INTERVIEW
Aiming for pole position in growing electrified market
Mark Smyth spoke with Jonathan Goodman of Polestar on the company’s plans and challenges
The chief operating officer of Polestar, Volvo’s electrified brand, has told Motor News that the new models will have the "unique attributes of Polestar with the underpinnings of Volvo". We spoke with Jonathan Goodman while he was at the recent Geneva motor show and he says that Polestar is "like a 90-year-old start-up", referring to the new brand being part of the 90-year-old Volvo car company. He says that it was always the vision to make Polestar a standalone brand, after it was initially a performance division along the lines of BMW’s M or Mercedes’ AMG. Goodman says it would have been difficult for Volvo to launch a performance car brand, but through its strategy of electrification Polestar can be something very different. However, there are challenges such as the low level of awareness of the new brand compared to rivals. "We have to be pragmatic," he told us, adding there is real excitement in the firm at the fact that they were an actual brand being represented at Geneva. Th...
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