The Polestar 7 might just be the most important model from Polestar. The newcomer will soon roll off the production line in Europe and carries high expectations.
Polestar is rapidly expanding its model range, with the 3 and 4 arriving on the market last year, the 5 likely coming this year, and the 7 next year. And the 6 then? Well, that comes after the 7, presumably in 2027. This means the naming strategy isn’t quite consistent anymore, as the numbers indicated the order of introduction, although the 6 in pre-production trim was revealed earlier than the 7.
Ultimately, we should attach less importance to the numbers and their order, as revealed in a conversation between AutoWeek and the newly appointed Polestar CEO, Michael Lohscheller. The German, once the head of Opel, explains that the numbers stay with the model, so a new number isn’t used every time a new car comes out. The Polestar 2 will simply be succeeded by a new 2. Only when a new model line comes out, like with the Polestar 7, does the brand attach a next number. This also makes it clear that the 7 is not a successor to the 2. Are you still following?
From left to right: The Polestar 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Polestar 7 has a tough job
What will the Polestar 7 be then? A compact SUV, possibly a cousin of the Volvo EX30. Lohscheller emphasizes that the Polestar 2 is clearly more of a sedan-like vehicle compared to the 7 (and will remain so). “We need to enter the compact SUV segment, but that is a different segment than the sedan segment. We want both,” says Lohscheller. This is a very important model for Polestar, as evidenced by the fact that Lohscheller revamped the introduction schedule and the 6 now comes after the 7: “I wanted to give the Polestar 7 the highest priority.”
The Polestar 7 has a tough job on its hands. It needs to give the brand much better figures. Growth is happening, but profitability needs to increase after the heavy losses of the past. “We aim to break even in 2027. You can’t keep investing and not see enough of a return. We are on the right track, but we still need to grow further. We also wanted to open ourselves up to larger segments.” That’s where the Polestar 7 comes in, because the segment for compact SUVs is huge, as the top executive knows. The 7 may be Polestar’s biggest volume seller and the entry-level model. “I don’t see us expanding into a lower segment,” says Lohscheller.
European production
The Polestar 7 is logically related to the Volvo EX30.
By ‘European sales hit’ at the top of this article, we don’t mean that the Polestar 7 only needs to be a success in Europe, but that it comes from Europe. Polestar had previously announced that it was ‘planning’ to build the 7 here, now Lohscheller tells AutoWeek the redeeming word: that will happen. “I can’t tell you exactly where it will happen yet, but we will announce that in the short term.” Since the Polestar 7 is likely to be related to the Volvo EX30, we are initially betting on production in Ghent, Belgium. Lohscheller is very happy about it anyway: “Shipping cars all over the world is not a good business model. We don’t want to be able to deliver your Polestar only in four months because it comes from Asia, if it rolls off the production line in Europe, it will be there much faster.”