STOCKHOLM, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Polestar posted a

second quarter operating loss on Thursday, a day after the

Swedish electric vehicle (EV) maker replaced its CEO amid

funding issues and flagging sales.

The luxury car maker has struggled like other EV startups to

become profitable, hindered by extensive delays to model

launches, missed delivery goals and higher costs.

Polestar said on Wednesday it would replace Thomas

Ingenlath, who had been CEO since it was founded in 2017, with

Michael Lohscheller, a former boss of Opel and EV startups.

Its second quarter operating loss narrowed slightly to

$242.3 million, from a revised $273.6 million a year earlier, as

some of its cost reduction actions kicked in.

Meanwhile, its gross margin swung to negative 0.7% in the

three-months to June, from 0.1% a year earlier.

Polestar, which is grappling with a challenging demand

environment amid a price war ignited by Tesla last year, said

its results had been hit by higher discounts and lower volumes.

Revenue for the second quarter fell to $574.9 million, from

a revised $693.3 million a year earlier, Polestar said as it

stuck to its outlook for a stronger second half of the year.

Unlike some other EV startups, Polestar had strong financial

backers in co-founders Volvo Cars and China's

Geely. But it suffered a blow earlier in the year when Volvo

said it would stop further funding.

Geely has said it intends to continue supporting the group.

Polestar said on Thursday it had in August received an

additional $300 in funding through a one-year term loan facility

from a bank. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of June were

$669 million, compared with $784 million at the end of March.

Punitive import tariffs imposed by the European Union, the

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

pressure on Polestar, which has until this month only made its

cars in China.

However, it started production of its Polestar 3 SUV in the

United States earlier this month.