Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath is stepping down amid flagging gross sales

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath is resigning from his place and shall be changed by Michael Lohscheller, who beforehand served as CEO of Stellantis-owned carmaker Opel, the automaker announced Tuesday.

The transfer comes as Polestar has struggled to maintain its funds up amid a wider slowdown in EV gross sales development. It has gone by a number of rounds of layoffs and lately noticed Volvo drastically scale back its stake within the firm. Polestar is predicted to report its second quarter earnings on August twenty ninth. The corporate’s inventory is at present promoting for lower than $1.

Ingenlath has been on the helm since Polestar’s inception in 2017. He oversaw the discharge of Polestar’s first two fashions: the $150,000 hybrid Polestar 1 sports activities coupe and the extra mainstream $60,000 Polestar 2 fastback sedan. The Polestar 3, which is an SUV, was launched this yr and is the corporate’s first mannequin to be produced within the US.

However Tesla’s value cuts, rising competitors from European automakers, and recurring complications round charging have led to a softening in EV demand. Polestar stated it misplaced $231 million within the first quarter of 2024, up from $219 million over the identical interval the earlier yr.

Polestar’s ties to China — like Volvo, it’s owned by Chinese language automaker Geely — are additionally trying more and more fraught, because the US, EU, and Canada take into account new tariffs on EVs imported from the nation. Geely is now the corporate’s principal monetary backer, and Polestar’s manufacturing facility is positioned in Chengdu, China.

“I’m very happy with what we’ve achieved collectively within the final seven years,” Ingenlath stated in a press release. “We had the imaginative and prescient of an electrical premium model which places efficiency and design at its core. And we made it, the dream turned actuality.”

Previous to becoming a member of Polestar, Ingenlath’s expertise was largely in design. He served as chief exterior designer for Volkswagen earlier than being appointed chief designer at Škoda in 2000. In 2006, he was promoted to director of design on the Volkswagen Design Middle in Potsdam.

“To a sure diploma, it’s a must to take that danger of projecting what will occur sooner or later,” he stated. “The place is shopper style going? I needed to study as a designer to be very a lot alone — with no matter knowledge you attempt to show it with.”

Lohscheller’s appointment marks a shift in focus for Polestar — maybe away from the minimalist designs that marked Ingenlath’s tenure. Along with Opel, he has additionally served as chief government of VinFast, the buzzy Vietnamese EV firm, and Nikola, which is producing hydrogen-powered semi vans.

“Polestar has skilled an distinctive start-up section and with a broader mannequin line-up, Michael Lohscheller is the best chief to information Polestar into its subsequent chapter,” Winfried Vahland, Polestar’s incoming chairman, stated in a press release. Vahland, who was appointed to Polestar’s board in June, involves Polestar after serving as chair and CEO of Škoda.