Polestar won’t be goaded into cutting its prices to stay in line with Tesla in Australia.
The brand rejected the idea of a “price war” in search of Tesla-rivalling volumes “for nothing”.
“We’re not trying to catch up to Tesla,” Polestar Australia boss Samantha Johnson told media.
“We’re on a different path to other brands, we’re very much moving into the more luxury space … we believe in our products being premium, we’re a premium brand. We’re moving up toward luxury with the Polestar 3 coming into the market.
“We have no intention of following other brands with lowering prices, or a price war.”
Ms Johnson also ruled out offering sporadic price cuts to drive big monthly results, categorically telling media the brand doesn’t do discounts.
The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are comfortably the best-selling electric cars in Australia to date this year, with a combined 29,511 sales to date.
Polestar has delivered 1453 cars to date in 2023, although shorter wait times and the arrival of the updated 2 will help boost those figures through the back end of this year.
Along with its strong supply, sharp pricing is a key part of Tesla’s appeal.
It has this year cut the price of its Model 3 and Model Y multiple times in Australia, with the range now kicking off at $57,400 before on-roads for the cheapest Model 3 sedan.
The cheapest Polestar 2 – which is a similar size to the Model 3, and offers similar range – is the Standard Range Single Motor, which kicks off at $67,400 (+$3500) for 2024.
You’ll also need to pay more for adaptive cruise control as part of the Pilot Pack, bumping the price to just shy of $70,000 before on-road costs and incentives.
UPDATE, 26/08/2023 6:00pm – We’ve update the above paragraph to say $70,000 instead of $80,000
The 2 will soon be usurped on the pricing charts by the Polestar 3 SUV, which will start at $132,900 before on-road costs and extend to $141,900 before on-roads.
MORE: Everything Polestar 2
