Polestar trims 2022 sales forecast as China lockdowns upend supplies

Polestar cuts 2022 delivery forecast amid China lockdown

Polestar has accelerated the introduction of a second shift at its factory in Luqiao, China, and plans to recover some of the lost production this year.

Swedish EV maker Polestar cut its 2022 delivery forecast by 15,000 units to 50,000 vehicles on Thursday, blaming the hit on COVID-19 lockdowns in China.

“The reduction for 2022 is 100 percent attributable to the lockdowns in China,” the Volvo Cars subsidiary said in a statement.

“We would have comfortably reached our goal of delivering 65,000 car this year had it not been for the lockdowns,” a Polestar source told Automotive News Europe.

COVID-19 lockdowns in China have caused supply chain disruptions for semiconductors and components widely used in EVs, hurting the ability of companies to produce them.

Polestar said with help from its partners, Volvo and Geely Automobile, it continues to manage supply chain challenges as it did in 2021 when it delivered about 29,000 vehicles.

Polestar has accelerated the introduction of a second shift at its factory in Luqiao, China, and plans to recover some of the lost production this year. The company added it was confident of reaching its delivery target from 2023 onward.

A key part of its plan to reach 124,000 global sales by next year is the arrival of the Polestar 3 premium large SUV, which will have its global debut in October.

The production woes have not slowed Polestar’s market expansion as it is now active in 23 markets, up from 19 at the end of 2021, with Spain and Portugal being among the key new additions.

Italy and Israel will be added before year end as part of the company’s aims to have operations going in 30 market at the close of 2022.

The Swedish company said its vehicle sales more than doubled to about 13,600 and orders more than tripled to about 23,000 in the first four months of the year, compared with the same period of 2021.

“Any short- to medium-term economic effects have not dented our goal of selling 290,000 cars in 2025 – 10 times more than we sold in 2021,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said in the release.

Polestar, which was founded in 2017 by China’s Geely and Volvo Cars, is set to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Gores Guggenheim this year.

Rental car firm Hertz Global Holdings said in April it would buy up to 65,000 Polestar electric vehicles over five years.

Douglas A. Bolduc and Reuters contributed