The theme of the past 12 months has been the never-ending onslaught of new electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia, but Polestar is confident it can cement a place in the local market despite its niche status.
Polestar – owned by China’s Geely and therefore a sister brand to Volvo, Zeekr, and Lotus – has struggled to penetrate global markets since its 2017 launch. It’s by no means the only brand to have adopted an EV-only strategy globally, but it’s consistently and comprehensively outpaced by brands like Tesla, while also grappling with the rapid growth of China’s EV industry as a whole.
That said, Polestar recorded strong sales growth in 2025, with a 36 per cent year-on-year increase globally and a 38.5 per cent increase in Australia alone – still way behind the Australian growth recorded by compatriots Chery (+176.8 per cent) and BYD (+156.2 per cent).
Despite offering premium-leaning vehicles, Polestar’s local brand managing director Scott Maynard believes the brand has a lot to offer Australian motorists compared to value-oriented Chinese manufacturers.
“I still feel that Polestar has enough of a unique brand story and a unique story to tell that can’t be matched by the competitors that have arrived and are yet to arrive. We’ve still got some clear air and a space of our own,” Mr Maynard told media at the launch of the updated Polestar 2.
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“The market is cluttered, and I think every brand that operates in Australia is looking long and hard at the horizon to work out exactly how that will change and how that space could be compressed.”
There are no fewer than 32 mid-size electric SUVs on sale in Australia, alongside many more sedans, hatches, large SUVs, and even commercial vehicles available with electric power.
103,269 EVs were delivered in Australia in 2025, accounting for 8.3 per cent of all new vehicle deliveries, up from 7.4 per cent or 91,945 deliveries in 2024.
“But it’s really pleasing to see the continued uptake in EV, the expanding share of EV in the Australian market, and we’re really pleased that EV is now out-running the premium set that we work in, and so that continues to allow us to operate in a space that’s not quite so flooded,” he added.
“[There’s] still a lot going on there, and we’ve got to be aware of that, but we’re still confident that what we did last year, we can do again next year.”
Aside from Chinese newcomers, a new challenge is arising from previously electric-averse brands from elsewhere. Toyota and Subaru have just rolled out substantial upgrades to their respective bZ4X and Solterra electric SUVs, while Mazda is gearing up to launch two Chinese-sourced EVs in the 6e and CX-6e.
When asked whether EVs produced by legacy manufacturers would pose a greater threat to Polestar’s Australian efforts, Mr Maynard instead outlined that it would have a positive effect.
“It brings more buyers into the market, it makes the consideration of EVs and EV uptake rise, and so it brings people in,” he said.
“We still have some of those unique brand properties that I think would differentiate us from those that will allow us to still continue to be successful.”
Indeed, Polestar has uniquely committed to transparent reporting of its emissions, providing exact figures for carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of each of its models and their variants.
For example, Polestar’s so-called “sustainability credentials” for the base Polestar 2 Standard range Single motor explicitly list 15.4 tonnes of CO2 emitted during material production, 5.0t in battery modules, and 1.6t in manufacturing and logistics, totalling 22.0t of CO2 for that variant alone.
These ‘credentials’ are publicly available on Polestar’s website, and all contribute to the brand’s ‘Polestar 0’ research project, which has “a goal of creating a truly climate-neutral car, by eliminating all supply chain, manufacturing and end-of-life emissions”.
“There really aren’t too many brands, either here or coming, that can match our credentials on the sustainable production of these cars, and there’s really none that can match us on design,” Mr Maynard said.
“So I think those two things still allow us to stand clear and stand out, and that’s worked for us in the past, and I can’t see why it would change.
“It’s not to say that we don’t have respect for what’s happening and an eye on it, but I’m satisfied that we can oversee it.”