Although Polaris is a brand that entered the new energy field earlier, it seems that it didn't understand how to do it from the beginning. In the early stage, Polestar 1 was launched at a price of 1.45 million, and the second car entered the price range of 300,000 yuan. When people first met the brand, they suddenly made a 180 degree turn, and the product went straight to 700,000. This kind of coquettish operation makes people see things in a fog.
Polaris has a strong motor gene. 1996 participated in the first Swedish Touring Car Championship in the name of Flash Engineering and won the championship. Since Volvo was used at that time, we have conducted in-depth cooperation with the brand since then.
In 2005, Flash Engineering officially changed its name to Polestar Racing Team, and has accumulated 96 championships, 265,438+02 podium and many other honors. In 2009, Volvo, worried about not having a high-performance brand, announced that Polar Star would be included in its R&D racing and performance car division. Finally, in July 2005, Polaris was officially acquired by Volvo.
In 20 17, Polaris became an independent brand of high-end new energy vehicles jointly owned by Geely Group and Volvo, focusing on the electrification field in the future, and released the first high-performance hybrid vehicle Polestar 1 that year.
This million-dollar luxury car was at the forefront of the industry at that time and attracted a lot of attention. Although it is not mass production, it shows consumers the determination of brand development and shows off the winning figures.
In 20 19, the second product Polestar 2 was officially released. This product is a real moving model, and its positioning is equivalent to Model 3. Its vehicle quality and sports adjustment have been well received.
However, its shortcomings are also obvious. Small space, short battery life and no price advantage have become the three key factors that hinder consumers' choice. Obviously, users don't buy the high-end brand value of Polaris. In the face of Tesla's technological pioneer luxury, Polaris's "classicism" has obviously been difficult to impress current consumers.
At this point, Polaris seems to have entered a confused period, unable to squeeze into the high-end circle and unable to go down. In the six years from 20 17 to 2022, only two models were sold, including a million Polestar 1 for window decoration.
On March 17, 2023, Polaris finally launched the third model, a brand-new medium and large SUV——Polestar 3, but this time it made another 180 degree turn, and the price directly went up to the price range of 698,000-798,000, which was not enough to compete with Tesla. Is this to position itself as super luxury?
This may be the case. According to the interview information of domestic media, Feng Dan, CEO of Polaris China, once said that all product planning of Polaris will focus on ultra-luxury, and will not launch products aimed at the sinking market. Now the imaginary enemy has become a Porsche.
But the question is, does Porsche regard you as an opponent? This high-low strategic adjustment is a typical lack of long-term spirit, and it also shows that high-level officials are vacillating about their future development direction.
In fact, the vacillation in this direction is the direct result of the constant changes at the top. After Polaris 20 17 became independent, the person in charge of China District changed five places like a merry-go-round.
The first CEO of Polaris China was Shen Feng sent by Volvo Cars, but he didn't leave until the end of 20 17.
Subsequently, Polaris ushered in a relatively stable two years, and Wu Zhenhao, vice president of Volvo Asia Pacific Products Department, took over. During his reign, he launched Polestar 1 and Polestar 2, and defined 300,000 yuan as the main battle in the middle and high-end market.
However, because the sales performance was far less than expected, Polaris was in chaos. In 2020, Polaris China changed its CEO and welcomed Gao Xun who had worked in Volkswagen China and Bentley. In March, 20021,Gao Kun resigned, and Nathan Forshaw, a former global strategy and development department of Polaris and a senior executive of Volvo Group, became the fourth CEO of Polaris China. In August, 2022, Polaris China changed coaches again, and Feng Dan, who once worked for Cadillac brand, took over as the fifth CEO of Polaris China.
Visible, in 2020-2022, when the new energy market in China broke out, Polaris was not ready, and lost the opportunity and initiative of development. Obviously, foreign CEOs still hold the old ideas, traditions and wishful thinking of "China consumers don't understand", but it is this complacency that ruined a good opportunity.
Polaris is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, developed in Sweden and Britain, and manufactured in China. Domestic departments have no right to speak, which also makes Polaris products and China consumers have different tastes.
In our view, the listing of Polestar 3 has been obviously broken, and such pricing is tantamount to giving up the China market.
In 20021year, Polaris sold 29,000 vehicles worldwide, of which about 93% were sold overseas, and the domestic market turnover was small.
According to the 2022 financial report released by Polaris Automobile, Polaris achieved revenue of US$ 2.5 billion in 2022, up 84% year-on-year, and its net loss reached US$ 466 million, narrowing by over US$ 500 million year-on-year.
Polaris has delivered 50,000 new cars around the world, and CEO Thomas Ingrat said that Polaris 2 has contributed an important force to sales growth. In 2023, Polaris will release two more electric vehicles: Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, which are expected to be mass-produced in 2024.
However, the sales of Polaris in China are not clearly advertised. According to domestic media reports, the insurance coverage of Polaris in China in 2022 is only 17 19. Since it entered China on 20 17, the cumulative domestic sales of Polaris in five years have not exceeded five figures.
In 2023, Polaris' global sales target is 80,000 vehicles. However, according to the current strategy, the future will mainly rely on overseas markets. The mechanical quality and vehicle quality of Polestar series can meet the demand of foreigners for a new energy vehicle, but it is too traditional for domestic consumers.
Geely's business empire is now very huge, and the group owns Geely, Lectra, Geometry, Krypton, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Lotus and other automobile brands.
The polar star movement can't compare with Tao, and the people-friendly theory can't compare with Krypton, which has outstanding intellectual advantages and brought greater advantages.
In 2022, Krypton delivered 72,000 new cars, exceeding the annual delivery target, increasing by 109.8% year-on-year, and the average order amount exceeded 336,000 yuan, of which Krypton delivered more than1000 in February 2022, increasing by 198.7% year-on-year.
Polaris is now focusing on overseas. In addition to facing ordinary consumers, it also reached an agreement with Hertz to rent a car in the commercial field. In the next five years, the company will purchase 65,000 Polestar 2 models.
Perhaps Polaris is really not suitable for the China market, and its high and low positioning is doomed to be difficult to resonate with users. At the same time, the "suicide" pricing of Polestar 3 is obviously self-defeating when the involution of new energy vehicles in China is so serious. Looking around, even Mercedes-Benz EQS can hardly support the price of 800,000 yuan, not to mention Polaris, which has much weaker brand power.
According to the data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China have been ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years, maintaining the "fast lane" development trend. In 2022, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 7.058 million and 6.887 million respectively, up 96.9% and 93.4% year-on-year, and the market share reached 25.6%, among which the sales of pure electric vehicles reached 5.365 million, up 865.438+0.6% year-on-year.
Facing such a booming market is an opportunity for any brand, otherwise there will not be so many new forces. Although Polaris has innate advantages and good pedigree, it does not adapt to the China market and is slow to respond to new demands and changes.
Polaris said that it will focus on overseas expansion in the future, including the layout in Spanish, Portuguese and Irish regions, but this is more like passively accepting defeat in the China market.
Text | Ren Hongbin
Editor | Wang Xin
Production | driving report
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