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STOCKHOLM – Swedish electrical car (EV) maker Polestar stated on Thursday it has seen a 40% drop in first-quarter deliveries, because the sector grapples with slowing demand.
Whereas automakers and suppliers are betting on future demand for EVs, gross sales progress has slowed, investments in capability and know-how improvement are exceeding demand, rising strain on corporations to chop prices.
Polestar stated it delivered 7,200 autos within the first quarter, down 40% from 12,076 a yr earlier.
A rise in deliveries of its two luxurious SUVs, the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, will contribute to income within the second half of the yr, CEO Thomas Ingenlath stated in an announcement.
“Each of those vehicles will present the premise for a robust income and margin progress in the course of the second half of the yr, supporting our 2025 targets,” Ingenlath stated.
The corporate goals to ship 155,000-165,000 vehicles in 2025.
Polestar stated it had delivered 1,200 of the Polestar 4 SUV coupes within the first quarter to China, the primary nation to obtain the automobile in late 2023.
International deliveries of the Polestar 3 are scheduled to start within the second quarter of 2024, whereas the Polestar 4 is anticipated to achieve the primary clients in Europe and Australia in August, with deliveries within the US anticipated later this yr.
Investor enthusiasm for EV makers has cooled as gross sales progress has slowed and monetary losses have widened, making life particularly tough for start-ups like Polestar.
Monetary backer Volvo Automobiles stated in February it might cease additional funding of Polestar, which is struggling to fulfill targets, and hand over the vast majority of its stake to its shareholders equivalent to Geely.
The corporate is ready to report its postponed fourth-quarter outcomes on April 30 and first-quarter outcomes on Might 23.