Polestar 'on a different mission' to Elon Musk's vision for the future: Swedish EV brand has no plans to take on Toyota or Volkswagen in the sales charts

Speaking to Australian media from the Shanghai Motor Show, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath has explained how his vision for the future of Polestar is starkly different from that of Elon Musk's Tesla.

When queried on the brand's volume ambitions and whether the brand could one day outsell Tesla, Ingenlath explained Polestar's vision was quite different.

"We have a completely different mission, I think, with the brand, than what Elon Musk has defined as Tesla's vision of the future," he said.

"A brand that is aiming to sell something like 10 million cars per year. Obviously our volume ambitions are on a completely different dimension.

"Here our goal is to become a highly profitable car brand that finds its sustainable base to deliver, for our investors, a volume that is somewhere above 200,000, or close to 300,000 units a year. You can detect that this is a very different ambition from going into the millions of units and competing with Toyota or Volkswagen."

He also said the brand's more premium direction was a defining factor for its position within the Geely family, where it sits besides brands like Volvo and Lotus. Communicating this premium vision to customers and shareholders was why the brand had revealed so many vehicles in such a short period of time.

The Polestar 3 will cost from $132,900 before on-roads.

"That's actually the reason why we had the precept concept out very early, in order to give customers a bit more of an idea about the direction of the brand, this is a more holistic product portfolio from the Polestar 2 or the Polestar 5," Ingenlath  said.

"Yes [the premium] segment is where Polestar is positioned, and that's our mission within the group portfolio. So, different to Volvo, but of course we always knew what the brand value of Volvo.

"This leaves air left toward a sportier, more expressive, a more edgy and of course fully dedicated to electrification brand."

He said this mission would be developed on by making more "avant-garde" design decisions, like the choice to remove the rear glass panel from the Polestar 4.

Polestar confirmed late last year that it is on-track to meet its ambitious sales goals.

"New ways of handling technology and design is the idea of our name, Polestar. The guiding star. I mean this is about going somewhere first and exploring. That is truthful to the spirit of our name," Ingenlath  said.

He hinted that controversial design choices like the removal of the rear window would also feature on the Polestar 5 GT car due to hit the market in 2025.

The Polestar 4, designed to specifically compete with the Porsche Macan, is planned to launch in Australia in 2024, following the launch of the Polestar 3 large SUV (deisgned to compete with the Porsche Cayenne), which is due before the end of 2023.

When queried on the brand’s volume ambitions and whether the brand could one day outsell Tesla, Ingenlath explained Polestar’s vision was quite different.

The Polestar 3 will cost from $132,900 before on-roads, while the target pricing internationally for the Polestar 4 places it at the AU$100,000 mark. Official pricing for Australia is yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, Polestar confirmed late last year that it is on-track to meet its ambitious sales goals, saying it is selling every single Polestar 2 it can import for the time being. A heavily updated Polestar 2, which switches from primarily front-drive to rear-wheel drive will launch later in 2023. Unlike its primary Model 3 competitor, which occasionally has its price slashed, the Polestar 2 is expected to become more expensive.