Polestar rejects Tesla's electric car 'price war' and discounts

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