- Thomas Ingenlath will step down as Polestar CEO on October 1.
- He will probably be changed by Michael Lohscheller.
- Lohscheller was beforehand CEO at Opel, VinFast and Nikola Motor.
Polestar, the electrical automobile producer owned by Chinese language-based large Geely, can have a brand new chief working officer beginning subsequent month. On October 1, Thomas Ingenlath, who served as CEO for the reason that firm’s inception as a standalone automaker in 2017, will step down.
Michael Lohscheller will take his place and attempt to remodel Polestar from an EV startup into a much bigger participant within the automotive trade. Lohscheller was CEO at a number of different automotive firms within the final decade. Between 2017 and 2021 he spearheaded Opel, then moved to the place of International CEO at VinFast. After simply seven months, he jumped ship to Nikola, the maker of battery- and hydrogen-powered massive rigs, the place he acted as each president and CEO till September 2023, based on his LinkedIn profile.
Michael Lohscheller, the brand new CEO of Polestar
“Polestar has skilled an distinctive start-up section and with a broader mannequin line-up, Michael Lohscheller is the perfect chief to information Polestar into its subsequent chapter,” stated Winfried Vahland, Polestar’s incoming Chairman. “His deep trade data, particularly in driving operational excellence, creating a coherent product technique and strengthening the worldwide market presence will probably be instrumental within the subsequent chapter of Polestar’s development.”
Polestar, which presently sells three fashions–the Polestar 2, Polestar 3 and Polestar 4–had a tough first half of the 12 months when it comes to gross sales. Globally, the Geely subsidiary offered roughly 20,200 vehicles, down 27% year-over-year.
All three fashions are presently being assembled in China, which isn’t superb for the aspiring automaker’s U.S. ambitions, contemplating the hiked import tariffs. Its fortunes, stateside not less than, lie on the Polestar 3 which not too long ago entered native manufacturing in South Carolina, thus avoiding pricey import duties and preserving losses to a minimal.
As a reminder, Polestar needs to combat with names like BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. In different phrases, it’s betting on high-priced fashions in a market that seemingly needs extra inexpensive vehicles, so will probably be fascinating to see what its new CEO will convey to the desk.
“Polestar has already established itself as one of the vital fascinating and progressive manufacturers within the electrical automobile house, and I sit up for working with the gifted crew to construct on this sturdy basis and speed up our growth,” stated Michael Lohscheller.