Polestar 2 trial production begins at Geely plant

Polestar, Volvo Car Corp.'s electrified performance brand, started trial production of its second model at a plant run by Volvo’s Chinese parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, in east China’s Zhejiang province.

Output began last month, Polestar said.  

“Polestar 2 tooling trial prototypes are now rolling off the final production line in the Luqiao factory, and so nearing series production,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said. 

“Cars will be with customers in the first half of 2020, as planned,” he added. 

The Polestar 2 is a battery electric midsize sedan. It is assembled at the Luqiao plant along with the Volvo XC40 and the Lynk & CO 01 crossovers. 

All three vehicles are based on Volvo’s new compact car platform dubbed Compact Modular Architecture. Lynk & CO is a brand jointly owned by Geely and Volvo. 

The Luqiao factory is Polestar’s second production site in China. In August, the brand began mass output of its first product, the Polestar 1 hybrid coupe, in a plant jointly built by Geely and Volvo in the southwest China city of Chengdu. 

Earlier this year, Polestar started taking orders for its first two models in China: the Polestar 1 carries a price tag of 1.45 million yuan ($205,670) while the Polestar 2 has a starting price of 298,000 yuan. 

Polestar plans to open 20 stores in nine major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu by the end of 2020. 

The brand also expects to ship the two China-built vehicles to Western Europe and North America starting next year.