The Chief Executive and founder of European Tesla-rival Polestar has quit after seven years at the helm after sales plunged 40% in a year. The Telegraph has the details.
Polestar, which is controlled by Sweden’s Volvo and China’s Geely, confirmed on Wednesday the resignation of long-time boss and founder Thomas Ingenlath. He will be replaced from October 1st.
His resignation comes after sales of the Swedish company’s upmarket electric cars slumped. Global volumes fell 40% in the first quarter of 2024 to 7,221, down from 12,076 the previous year.
Once valued at more than $20bn (£15bn), Polestar’s valuation has plummeted to around $2bn since it went public in 2022. Its shares, listed in New York, are down 41% this year alone.
The carmaker, headquartered in Gothenburg in Sweden, lost close to $1.5bn over the course of 2023.
Originally starting life as a prototyping division of Volvo, developing concept models and touring car racers, Polestar was launched as a standalone marque in 2017. It was billed as Europe’s answer to Tesla.
Vehicles such as the Polestar 2 electric hatchback received a positive reception from critics.
However, Matthias Schmidt, an analyst at Schmidt Automotive Research, said Polestar had struggled to turn its critical acclaim into mass sales.
In February, Volvo announced it would no longer be providing financial support to Polestar, offloading part of its 48% stake to Geely, its Chinese parent company.
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