By Michael Elkins
Swedish electric performance car brand, Polestar (NASDAQ:PSNY), released its global volumes for the first quarter of 2023 on Thursday reporting that the automaker delivered approximately 12,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2023, up nearly 26% year-on-year.
Following the usual seasonality affecting deliveries in the first quarter, Polestar continues to anticipate global volumes in 2023 to increase by nearly 60% year-on-year to approximately 80,000 cars, predominantly led by Polestar 2 sales.
According to Automotive News, which interviewed Polestar North America’s CEO Gregor Hembrough, the company saw an increase of around three to four percent in lease volume in mid-March, attributed to a “very competitive” 36-month lease offer that includes the commercial clean tax credit.
Leases account for 60% of Polestar 2 deliveries in the United States, up from 40% a year ago, with Hembrough telling Automotive News that "We're starting to see indicators that consumers are going back to leasing in the EV segment.”
However, Polestar dealers seem to be struggling with the lack of diversity in the brand’s lineup, with one retailer saying he is “super frustrated” by the lack of throughput.
Gregor Hembrough is aware of the issue. "I know the traffic has not been what they wanted," he said. "The handover has not been what they wanted, but at the same time, we're looking at all these other ways that we have an influence in the marketplace, and we're acting upon those."
“2023 is going to be another year of great progress for Polestar as we expand our portfolio and continue to grow our retail network. In addition to the significant upgrades we have made to Polestar 2, we expect to start production of our highly anticipated electric SUV Polestar 3 in the summer and we will shortly launch Polestar 4, the SUV coupe transformed,” says Polestar CEO, Thomas Ingenlath.
Shares of PSNY are up 1.47% in pre-market trading on Thursday.