Polestar UK drops agency model, new contracts for retailers

Polestar UK has abandoned the pure agency model and is giving its retail partners more ability to deal with car buyers at their ‘Polestar Space’ showrooms.

Polestar dealerships will now be able to target customers and actively sell to them.

In 2020 Polestar began sales of its electric cars in the UK with all transactions conducted directly with Polestar UK on its online platform, even those completed in or after a customer visited one of the Polestar outlets which are manned by staff employed by its agents, most of which are AM100 franchised dealer groups which also represent Volvo Cars, which has a stake in Polestar.

Staff at Polestar test-drive events and in the Polestar Spaces were not incentivised to sell to ensure “a no-pressure experience”, the brand said at the time. Its ‘agents’ earned fees for handling customers and handing over cars.

Now it says that allowing its dealers to bring their sales skills to bear will give customers a better experience.

“The UK is one of the first European markets where Polestar moves to a non-genuine sales model, in line with Polestar’s strengthened business plan to reach profitable growth next year. Polestar’s UK retail partners will be able to actively sell from each Space enhancing customers’ overall experience,” said Polestar UK in a statement.

Since Endeavour Automotive opened the UK’s first Polestar Space in London, the network has expanded slowly to nine showrooms with partners such as Waylands, Snows and Riverside, but Polestar UK now wants the number of sales points to almost double within the next 18 months.

Polestar said this development of its sales model and expansion plan goes hand in hand with the launch of its next two models, the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4.

Matt Galvin, managing director of Polestar UK, said: “Expanding our retail operations with new and existing partners will enable us to reach more customers. Through these partnerships and expansion, we will capitalise on our strong brand and growing model line-up.”

”We have delivered more than 30,000 Polestar 2 electric fastbacks to our UK customers since we launched in 2020. The development of our sales model and expansion of our retail footprint is a natural step to continue building upon the strong Polestar brand position, particularly with deliveries of our two new luxury electric SUVs Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 starting.”

John O’Hanlon, chief executive of AM100 group Waylands, which runs Polestar’s showroom in Bristol, said: “The new agreement between Waylands and Polestar will allow us to enhance the engagement with existing and future Polestar customers and will help us manage the customer journey in much more detail. I am really looking forward to adopting this strategy with Polestar 3 and 4 arriving this month.”