Polestar Came Back With A Vengeance In Q1

• Polestar’s global deliveries shot up 76% in the first quarter.
• The uptick in sales comes after a rough 2024.
• The Polestar 3 SUV is doing what it was meant to do: become the brand’s volume-seller. 

Polestar, the company behind the U.S.-built Polestar 3 electric crossover, had a fantastic first quarter in terms of global sales. After recording a serious 15% dip in deliveries in 2024, the Swedish-based EV maker is back with a vengeance.

In the first quarter, Polestar sold 12,304 cars globally. This is not record-breaking by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an impressive 76% improvement over the same period last year, when just 6,975 cars were delivered.

The main reason behind the serious uptick in sales compared to Q1 2024 is that Polestar now sells more than just one car. The company has three models on sale–the Polestar 2 four-door sedan that just got another update, the Polestar 3 luxury mid-size crossover and the Polestar 4 entry-level compact crossover. 

That said, the company did not detail how many units of each model have been sold, at least not yet.

“We are on the right track and doing the right things,” Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller said in a statement. “I’m pleased with the progress we are making in transforming our commercial operations. With a more active selling model, more retail partners and attractive cars, we are delivering results. At the same time, we are monitoring closely and assessing the volatile geopolitical environment and will adapt as needed.”

As good as this news is for Polestar, the company isn’t out of the woods just yet. Looking at the sales numbers from previous years, the automaker’s performance in the first quarter is just marginally better than the one in 2023, when roughly 12,000 cars were sold worldwide. 

Now that Polestar has a more complete portfolio of cars, it has to deliver significantly more of them than in 2022 and 2023, when it was only selling the Polestar 2. Its sales pitch needs to go to the next level, and generous discounts—like the one offered to Tesla owners—seem to be helping so far. 

Bear in mind that the Polestar 4 went into production at the end of 2023, while the Polestar 3 started rolling off the assembly line at the beginning of 2024. Despite this, 2024 saw declining sales for the Swedish automaker compared to 2023 and even 2022.

Can Polestar deliver? We’ll have to wait and see, but all signs point in the right direction. It has a new American factory where it can assemble EVs without having to worry too much about the tariff turmoil and it’s selling what people want: crossovers. Now it just needs to convince people that it’s better than the competition.