STOCKHOLM, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Polestar will replace

long-serving CEO Thomas Ingenlath with a former boss of Opel and

EV startups as the company fights to shake up its business after

years of delayed model launches, missed delivery targets and

further separation from Volvo Cars.

Its new CEO, Michael Lohscheller has previously served as

CEO of Stellantis ( STLA )-owned carmaker Opel, Vietnamese EV

maker VinFast and electric truckmaker Nikola ( NKLA )

and will start in the position on Oct. 1, the company said in a

statement.

He is taking the reins at a challenging time for the EV

maker as it embarks on a further major cost-cutting programme in

an attempt to become profitable and cashflow breakeven in 2025.

The wider sector problems have also hit the company hard,

with a slowdown in demand for electric cars and pressure to cut

prices amid a price war ignited by Tesla last year.

Punitive import tariffs imposed by the European Union, the

United States and Canada on China-made EVs have added further

pressure on costs as the company works on reducing its reliance

on production in China.

The new CEO's significant experience as a chief executive of

automotive companies differs from Ingenlath's design background,

who had served as Volvo Cars' senior vice-president of design

before he became Polestar's CEO in 2017.

The leadership change marks a further shift away from Volvo

Cars, which alongside China's Geely, was

one of the co-founders and major financial backers of Polestar

until this year.

The company elected a new chair in June, replacing Hakan

Samuelsson who was Volvo's CEO for nearly 10 years. It also

replaced its head of design last week, who also had his

background in Volvo.

Two of Polestar's cars, its models 2 and 3 are produced in

Volvo Cars factories, but its model 4 is made in a factory run

by Geely and not based on Volvo's platform, which is also likely

to apply to future models.

While Volvo Cars has distanced itself from Polestar,

reducing its stake to 18% from 48%, Geely, now the majority

shareholder, has said that it remained committed to Polestar and

intends to further assist with funding.

On Wednesday, a Geely spokesperson said that while CEO

appointments were the board's remit, as one of the leading

shareholders the Chinese group "supports the Polestar board in

their strategy to realise the Polestar business plan".

Polestar's new chairperson Winfried Vahland said he believed

Lohscheller was the right choice for the next phase of the

carmaker's development.

"Polestar has experienced an exceptional start-up phase and

with a broader model line-up, Michael Lohscheller is the ideal

leader to guide Polestar into its next chapter," Vahland said.