BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - Chinese-backed Swedish
electric vehicle (EV) maker Polestar Automotive is
preparing to shift production of cars it plans to sell into
Europe to its U.S. plant from China in view of rising
geopolitical tension, its CEO said.
Asked how Polestar is preparing for a European probe into
Chinese-made EVs possibly leading to increased tariffs, Thomas
Ingenlath said the automaker is exploring the idea of exporting
the Polestar 3 made in South Carolina to the European Union.
Polestar builds the majority of its cars in the Chinese
cities of Chengdu and Taizhou. It started production in South
Carolina this year and plans to build a facility in South Korea.
It was founded by Sweden's Volvo Cars and
China's Geely but Volvo has handed most of its stake
to shareholders including Geely after saying in February it
would stop funding the venture.
Volvo Cars is majority-owned by Geely.
Export efforts by Chinese EV makers have come under scrutiny
in recent months in Europe and the U.S. who accuse China of
exporting overcapacity.
The European Commission in October began investigating
whether cheaper, Chinese-made EVs benefit unfairly from state
subsidies. China has called the investigation protectionist.
Ingenlath, in an interview late on Tuesday, said this made
production cost calculations "complex".
"We actually are in limbo there because we of course don't
know where the investigation is going," he said.
Polestar is therefore preparing as much as possible,
Ingenlath said.
"The direction to go to a global footprint and manufacturing
is something we have accelerated."
Analysts have said the automaker's shareholding shake-up
illustrates increasing difficulty for EV startups as sales
growth slows and financial loss deepens.
Geely and a private investment firm owned by Geely founder
Eric Li now own a combined 69% of Polestar, while Volvo Cars'
stake is 18% from an initial 49%.
Ingenlath said he did not anticipate the shareholding change
to affect the automaker's day-to-day operation.
Polestar delivered 54,600 cars globally in 2024 and has set
a goal to deliver 155,000 to 165,000 cars in 2025. It posted a
40% drop in first-quarter deliveries but expects deliveries of
its luxury Polestar 3 and 4 SUVs to accelerate this year.
Ingenlath said the automaker aspires to a sales breakdown of
40% in Europe, 30% in the United States and 30% in the
Asia-Pacific region.