The Volvo Polestar spinoff had a rough 2024, and 2025 looks like it could be just as tough.
The EV maker announced Thursday that it expects to generate less revenue in fiscal 2024 than in 2023, after previously estimating that sales would remain flat. That’s thanks to “fewer-than-expected sales of the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4,” which was fueled in part by a global EV price war.
The flagging sales have put pressure on Polestar from its lenders. A year ago, the automaker took out a $950 million loan from a syndicate of banks. Polestar was supposed to generate more than $5.3 billion in revenue by 2024 as part of that credit deal.
The company won’t report its final 2024 financial numbers for several more months, but revenue will be well below the $2.4 billion 2023 figure, according to Thursday’s guidance. (Polestar said investors should expect a “percent decline in the mid-teens.”) In turn, Polestar said it has been working with its parent company, Chinese conglomerate Geely Holdings, and the banks behind the loan to change that target. income.
Polestar also announced Thursday that it must redo all of its financial statements dating back more than two years because of accounting errors related to the tools it uses to build cars. The company said it underreported assets and liabilities related to that instrument, along with “other minor errors that have been identified will also be corrected as part of this restatement process.”
All this comes after Polestar went through layoffs and appointed a new CEO, CFO and COO in 2024. Last year, the company also lost the financial backing of Volvo.
Polestar still holds out hope that the new models will help boost sales. The Polestar 5 – a sedan based on the sharp Precept concept that debuted in 2021 – will go on sale later this year. Polestar plans to expand sales in France this year.
Polestar also shared Thursday that the upcoming Polestar 7 will be a “premium compact SUV,” giving it an entry into a popular and lucrative vehicle segment. But the company has to survive long enough to get to that model — for which it didn’t give a release date.
