CEO Thomas
Ingenlath tells us what Polestar is, how it's changed and where it's going
Nov 5th
2019 at 9:00AM
SAN
FRANCISCO — The Volvo XC90 was already in the works when
Thomas Ingenlath arrived to take over Volvo design,
but the SUV he came upon was definitely not the end-result vehicle that will
surely go down as one of the best-looking SUVs to ever be created. The rear end
was completely transformed, as Ingenlath insisted that it needed the tall
taillights that were a standout feature of the outgoing model. The Thor's
Hammer headlight accent was his addition, as well. The proportions were
basically the same, and certain things were locked in stone due to pre-existing
engineering work, but the XC90 we
know is ultimately Ingenlath's handiwork. It would go on to inspire every 90
and 60 series Volvo thereafter, each a feast for the eyes. The man knows how to
draw a pretty car.
Now,
however, he is tasked with an entirely new endeavor: selling pretty
cars and creating an entirely new brand for them. Polestar had previously been
an independent tuning firm for Volvo, akin to early AMG and
M. Now, the name has been spun off into a separate brand devoted to
high-performance, all-electrified offerings set to challenge the Tesla Model 3 in the affordable end of the luxury EV market.
It wasn't
always going to be that way, however. The original Polestar vision was to
exclusively produce high-dollar halo cars like the Polestar 1 and to be a brand Ingenlath
compares to Aston Martin. The 1's boutique factory in Chengdu,
China, that
specializes in hand-built cars and is limited to 500 per year is effectively a
vestige of that original vision. What changed?
When still
in charge of Volvo's design studio, Ingenlath's team created a four-door
fastback-style hatchback with a slightly taller ride height. It was deemed too
different by Volvo's American marketing wing – cars should be a sedan or a
wagon, not whatever this was. The design was canned.
When
Ingenlath arrived at Polestar, he and his team remembered that unusual car and
brought it out of the closet, so to speak. That it was different from
everything Volvo sold would make it perfect for Polestar. That it was basically
different from everything else on the road, and vaguely crossover-like, would
make it perfectly positioned to be a viable competitor for the Tesla Model 3.
Suddenly, Polestar had a car and a vision that could make it a volume electric
carmaker rather the maker of more trinkets of one-percenters. The brand's
direction had changed, and the Polestar 2 was born.
By
contrast, the Polestar 3 crossover to
be unveiled at next year's Geneva Motor Show won't be coming from Volvo's cutting-room
floor. It's a unique-for-Polestar creation, and Ingenlath says it'll be
considerably different than the Volvo norm.
Yet, the
lines of demarcation between Volvo and Polestar are much greater than the
design similarities would indicate. We've already detailed the
engineering and construction intricacies of the Polestar 1, and every future Polestar model will
be 100% electric. Volvos will be "electrified," but gas engines will
still be churning for the foreseeable future. There's also Polestar's greater
emphasis on performance, but it doesn't stop there.
You can
tell a car designer is in charge of the place because of the importance placed
on visually establishing brand distinctions that go far beyond the cars
themselves. Take their auto show stands,
pictured above. Volvo's is warm and welcoming, with light-colored wood, soft
gray couches and verdant images of Scandinavia. There were literally puppies in
New York one year. Polestar, by contrast, is monochromatic and minimalistic,
with white being the predominant color. It's cool and high-tech. "Polestar
Spaces" will be similarly adorned, resembling something from a science
fiction movie.
And what is
a "Polestar Space?" That would be the brick-and-mortar stores
masquerading as an "arty exhibit space" in Ingenlath's words, and
staffed by what the Polestar website describes as "car nerds with
encyclopedic knowledge and infectious enthusiasm." Sounds familiar. They
will answer questions and demonstrate the cars, but do not work on commission.
There will be no-haggle pricing, and purchases can be done at a Polestar Space
as well as online. In that way, it's like Tesla. In
another, it's not.
"We
are not naïve to think that you'd buy a car without a test drive experience,"
said Ingenlath, quite obviously referring to Tesla's well-documented reticence
in letting future customers try out its cars before purchase.
The Spaces
will be adjacent to a select number of existing Volvo dealers, or
in foot-traffic areas such as Tesla's brick-and-mortar outlets or those of some
other luxury brands. The location in Oslo, Norway, is pictured
below.
There's something
else that differentiates Polestar as a company: its size. The brand is owned
50% by Volvo and 50% by the Chinese carmaker Geely, which is not to be confused
with the entire Geely corporate entity that owns them both. So, doesn't that
just mean Geely owns 100%? When asked, Ingenlath basically said, "It's too
complicated to even begin to explain." As I dislike going cross-eyed, I
moved on. Yet, no matter the inanities of corporate agreements, the fact
remains that Polestar is related to a larger, established automaker and can
take advantage of its existing supply chain and manufacturing know-how – not to
mention its design studio's deleted scenes.
Yet, it
also has elements of an independent startup. Polestar has in its own
headquarters building – albeit adjacent to Volvo in Gothenburg, Sweden – its
own small team of engineers, designers, executives and everything else that
goes into a car brand. Ingenlath insists its small size lends itself to
innovation by dealing with less overhead and corporate bureaucracy while
fomenting stronger team chemistry and brand personality. Being small also means
the CEO of a car brand ends up doing the product presentation for assembled
journalists on a car launch. Now that's something I've never experienced
before. There's certainly a humble, personable quality to Ingenlath that stands
in sharp contrast to the typical automotive executive. Being new to the realm
probably has something to do with it. If he proves to be as good at building
and running a car brand as he was designing the cars themselves, Polestar
should be a name we'll be paying attention to in the future.
Source: Autoblog.com
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