Polestar predicts huge sales growth to end, but smooth sailing ahead

Polestar was one of Australia's fastest-growing auto brands last year in terms of sales, and while it doesn't expect the same growth in 2026, the Sino-Swedish brand is confident its expanding local dealer network and increasing customer awareness will keep people interested in its electric vehicles (EVs).

Marking an impressive 38.5 per cent sales increase over 2024, Australian sales for the Geely-owned EV brand were propelled by demand for its two relatively new SUVs, the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, which helped push its total sales to 2373 in 2025. They also contributed to a 36 per cent increase in global sales.

When asked whether that level of growth is sustainable, Polestar Australia managing director Scott Maynard told media that it's important to temper expectations.

"It is and isn't. It's sustainable because so much of the growth that we achieved was done through retail business, and not by driving in bulk fleet and doing huge deals to rental or ride share. So it was a really nice way of getting the volume done," he said.

"It now means we have friends with so many retail clients and customers, which is exactly the sort of business we're going after. That makes it sustainable."

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Polestar has plenty of new model activity planned for 2026, too. It's now rolling out another update for its long-running Polestar 2 liftback, and is planning to launch an flagship electric performance car in the form of the large Polestar 5 sedan.

"However, to set expectations, we wouldn't expect to lodge the same sort of growth again in 2026," Mr Maynard conceded.

"It was in part supported by product, the establishment of our dealer network, and all of those things worked really, really well for us – having a wider footprint, more points of sale and representation across Australia – and whilst we've got a little bit of growth to go with network development and cars like Polestar 5 to join the range, no, we don't expect to see 30-plus [per cent growth] again this year.

"We still expect to see growth in each quarter; we just don't see the sort of rampant growth that we derived from some really good, strong new model introductions in 2025," he said.

Mr Maynard said the continued expansion of Polestar's local retail network demonstrates its commitment to the Australian market, and ongoing demand for the brand's vehicles Down Under.

"We continue to expand our footprint, and we'll open a couple of new sites this year, and that shows not just our confidence in being able to meet the market and seeing a need for it, but also investment from our retail partners that are seeing good things come from the Polestar brand in their stable, because all of them carry multiple brands," he said.

"So their investment, I think, shows community confidence in us."

Even so, Polestar still has a debt of some US$5.5 billion (A$8.1bn) and recently closed its final research and development facility in the UK. Just days beforehand, parent company Geely granted the brand a US$600 million (A$885m) loan.

"Globally, we've just seen announcements of another $600 million injection into the brand, not just investment from Geely but also from outside," Mr Maynard added.

"That's all getting some traction there as well. So I think there's a lot of good news coming out of the Polestar brand, which our customers should find reassuring."

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