Polestar Production Centre opens in China
Polestar, Volvo’s electric performance brand, has marked more milestones. It has opened its first production facility while also announcing its World Manufacturing Identifier, which officiates the brand as a standalone car company.
The new Polestar Production Centre in Chengdu, China, sets a new industry benchmark in electric vehicle manufacture and will produce the Polestar 1 – an exclusive, carbon fibre-bodied Electric Performance Hybrid.
The facility, which has been completed on schedule, will produce vehicles for both China and global export markets (Australia not included) with first customer deliveries expected before the end of 2019.
The Polestar 1, which boasts nearly 450kW and 1000 Nm of torque, becomes the most premium new energy vehicle to be manufactured in China, the world’s largest EV market. The inauguration underlines China’s maturing industrialisation, an improving reputation for quality manufacturing, and, crucially, access to the right skills.
Premium craftsmanship and the integration of high-tech digital technology come together in producing the Polestar 1. The process is overseen by highly trained quality control auditors who, with a minimum of 10 years of experience, apply some of the strictest monitoring and assessment procedures in the industry.
“Here in Chengdu we are not only manufacturing a premium hybrid-electric performance car,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar’s chief executive officer. “We have also created an inspirational manufacturing environment, a great place to work and visit. It truly reflects the Polestar brand.
“We promised we would have our first production facility built in 2019, we promised cars would be delivered to customers this year, and we promised we would do things differently – once again we are delivering on our promises. This is a hugely proud moment for the whole team at Polestar.”
