Volvo Cars and its owner, Geely Holding has agreed to jointly invest RMB 5 billion (RM3.2 billion) into Volvo’s new subsidiary brand, Polestar. This investment aims to support the initial phase of Polestar’s product, brand and industrial development.
Polestar’s first business goal is to establish a state-of-the-art Polestar manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China – the same facility where Volvo makes their 60-series models. The production of the recently unveiled Polestar 1 will commence right after the facility is in place.
Volvo Cars and Polestar (and to some extend Geely), will benefit from synergies in the development of next-generation technologies, joint-development of technologies and economies of scale. The Chinese government’s call for lower emissions and more electrified cars is also a driving force behind the decision to establish a manufacturing plant in Chengdu.
The Polestar 1 is the company’s first ever car packing a sophisticated hybrid powertrain with 600 hp and 1000 Nm on tap. It will have a pure electric range of 150 km – the longest electric range of any hybrid on the market and shares only 50 percent of its platform with the S90. The remaining 50 percent are completely new items from Polestar themselves.
Further down the line, Polestar will have a mid-sized Battery-Electric Vehicle (BEV) called the Polestar 2 set for production in 2019 and subsequently a SUV-styled BEV, the Polestar 3 will be rolled out.
IMAGE GALLERY
