New Polestar 2 lined up for New Zealand’s Polestar owners
Words: AutoTrader NZ
By Gavin Shoebridge
Polestar New Zealand has around 2,000 Polestar 2 owners, and a replacement for their car is on the way.
The Polestar 2 launched the brand here in 2021 and makes up the bulk of its local fleet. Globally, around 190,000 have been sold.
Bruce Fowler, who led Polestar in New Zealand from launch, says the local owner base is a big reason the new car matters.
“The Polestar 2 is what the brand has been built on,” he says. “If you look at our loyal customer base, particularly on the owners group, we’ve got a lot of owners whose cars are coming up to five years old and they haven’t changed. This is going to be an opportunity for that installed customer base to move up to something that will be the right product at the right price.”
Production of the current Polestar 2 has ended at Polestar’s Luqiao factory in China. Its successor is due in 2027.
The new car will be one of the first Polestars to bring back physical controls, alongside the upcoming Polestar 7 compact SUV. Polestar chief executive Michael Lohscheller has said owners are asking for fewer touch surfaces and clearer controls. “They say: we want more buttons. It’s that simple,” he told Autocar.
The design will draw on the Formula 2030 concept, the first project led by Polestar’s head of design Philipp Römers. Polestar says the concept previews elements of both the new Polestar 2 and the Polestar 7, which is planned for 2028. The concept is yet to make its public debut.
Polestar hasn’t released technical details. The new car is widely expected to move from the current model’s 400V architecture to 800V.
Polestar’s head of vehicle dynamics, Joakim Rydholm, has told Auto Express the new Polestar 2 is being developed to beat BMW’s upcoming i3. It is expected to use chassis technology from the Polestar 5 grand tourer, which has just gone on sale here.
The new Polestar 2 joins a local line-up that now includes the Polestar 3, the Polestar 4 coupe and Polestar 4 SUV, and the Polestar 5. Polestar is distributed in New Zealand by Giltrap Group’s NordEast Vehicle Distributors.
