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Polestar targets Tesla owners with big discount strategy

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Campaign may lure Tesla customers disgruntled with Musk

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Polestar 3 price drops to $73,000 for Tesla owners with

discount

(Adds comment from company executive in paragraph 2, recasts

paragraph 1)

By Zaheer Kachwala and Marie Mannes

April 10 (Reuters) -

Nearly half of Polestar's global sales

in the quarter

through March came from hefty discounts targeting

disgruntled Tesla owners, an executive for the Swedish

EV maker said on Thursday, after it reported a

76% surge in deliveries

.

The offer, which gives Tesla owners in the U.S.

discounts of up to $20,000 towards a Polestar 3 lease, helped

power sales to 12,304 vehicles in the first three months,

Polestar's U.S. head of sales, Jordan Hofmann, told Reuters.

The Polestar discount campaign appears to be an attempt

to take advantage of a backlash against CEO Elon Musk's Tesla

brand amid slower-than-expected

EV demand

and worries that higher tariffs may

raise vehicle prices

.

Tesla's stock has dropped 32% so far this year from poor

sales and record trade-ins amid criticism of Musk over the

billionaire's controversial role in the Trump administration as

he works to slash federal government spending.

A long range, dual motor Polestar 3 with all the upgrade

packs would cost around $93,000, the Polestar website says, but

for Tesla owners using the discounts, the price would sink to

$73,000. A Tesla Model S starts at just under $80,000.

"We piloted a conquest campaign in late February. Based on

the positive response we ran a new campaign for the month of

March. We are currently running a similar campaign for April," a

spokesperson for Polestar told Reuters.

The offer is valid for its Polestar 3, which is produced in

a Volvo Cars factory in South Carolina.

POTENTIAL PRICE RISE

Polestar joins a throng of automakers scrambling for market

share as shoppers in the U.S. and beyond scour dealer lots to

try to snap up a car purchase before any potential rise in

prices from the higher U.S. tariffs.

Ford Motor ( F ) and Stellantis ( STLA ) offered deep

discounts starting this month, and Hyundai committed to keeping

prices stable.

Polestar has been trying to expand its production base in

the United States and reduce dependence on China - a strategy

more significant now after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed

sweeping tariffs on the world's largest auto market.

Indeed, both U.S. and other automakers are trying to enhance

their manufacturing footprint. General Motors ( GM ) last week told

workers it would increase output at a factory in Indiana, and

Hyundai committed to a $21 billion investment in the U.S.

Polestar said earlier campaigns had been positive.

"The numbers speak for themselves. This week saw some of the

highest order days for Polestar 3, and the response to our Tesla

Conquest Offer has been incredible," Jordan Hofmann, Polestar's

head of sales in the U.S., said in a LinkedIn post a month ago.

The company did not provide additional details or quantify

the impact of the previous promotion.

U.S. EV maker Lucid also hopped on the trend,

offering discounts of up to $4,000 for purchases of its luxury

Air sedans if a customer trades in a Tesla vehicle.

For Polestar, backed by China's Geely, boosting

sales is crucial as it burns through cash to hike production.

Last year, it underwent an executive shakeup and appointed a

new CEO with the aim of getting closer to profitability, raising

sales and securing a steady line of funding.