Polestar will expand production of its second crossover beyond China when it begins manufacturing the Polestar 4 in South Korea in mid-2025.
The move will allow the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group-controlled electric vehicle maker to avoid a steep 25 percent U.S. tariff imposed on China-built vehicles. The announcement was made during Polestar Day, a briefing here for media, analysts and investors on the company’s business and future product.
The Polestar 4 crossover coupe, billed as the brand’s fastest model, will arrive in Europe and the U.S. next year. It will be a volume driver and is critical to the automaker’s ambitions to sell 155,000 to 165,000 vehicles in fiscal 2025, when Polestar expects to break even financially.
Built on a version of Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture for larger cars, the Polestar 4 ditches the typical rear window and offers a twist on the rearview mirror. A high-definition screen shows a real-time feed from a roof-mounted, rear-facing camera to show what is happening behind the vehicle.
Polestar 4 production begins next week at a plant in Cixi, China, that will also build models for Geely brands such as Lynk & CO and Zeekr. Output will expand to Busan, South Korea, as part of a contract manufacturing agreement among Polestar, Geely and Renault Korea Motors. The Renault plant in Busan will supply Polestar 4 vehicles for North America and South Korea.
When Geely acquired 34 percent of Renault Korea Motors last year, the Chinese conglomerate was expected to use the Busan plant to access markets outside China, especially as threats of protectionist tariffs have grown.
“Moving export production of Polestar models to South Korea lowers the profit threshold as the brand attempts to grow its global market share of electric vehicles,” AutoForecast Solutions Vice President Sam Fiorani said.
The Busan plant, with direct access to ports to handle exports, has 23 years of experience in vehicle manufacturing and about 2,000 employees.
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