PH likes Polestar. We liked the silly
C30 concept
, we liked the even sillier
S60 concept
and we liked the rather more subdued
V60
. Today comes the biggest news since Volvo's total
acquisition of Polestar
two years ago: Polestar is becoming a separate performance car company.
Where will we see this logo first?
While still under Volvo's control, the aim of the newly revitalised Polestar will be "creating world beating electrified high performance cars"; don't expect any more 500hp, manual, we'll-only-make-six specials, basically. Heading up the operation will be Thomas Ingenlath, who will take up the CEO position having been Volvo Design Senior Vice President, and Jonathan Goodman, leaving the Volvo Senior Vice President Corporate Communication role to be COO of Polestar.
The new Polestar will continue with the range of optimisation packages for Volvos under the 'Polestar Engineered' banner, but its dedicated performance models will not carry any Volvo badges at all. The influence of Volvo, says Polestar, will provide synergies to "allow it to design, develop and build world beating electrified high performance cars."
What will those cars be? We don't know yet, with more details to be released in the autumn. A V40 could be interesting, what with the current proliferation of mega hot hatches and the opportunity to introduce hybrid technology to the sector. There may be a desire to reclaim the four-door Nurburgring record too, with some kind of overhauled S60. Both those cars are hardly fresh though, so there could be a desire to create a new Polestar product off something newer. And buyers do love a fast SUV. If an XC60 or XC90 Polestar comes first then you know where you read it...