Tesla arch-rival Polestar achieves sales record

Polestar has recorded a 51 per cent year-on-year increase in global sales for the first six months of 2025, giving the electric vehicle (EV) brand its highest ever sales figure for the first half of a year.

The sales surge included a 23 per cent increase in Australia, powered by the introduction of the brand’s first SUVs.

The automaker’s 30,319 vehicles sold globally to the end of June 2025 (H1) compares to 20,371 over the same period last year – heavily impacted by rental car giant Hertz’s cancelled order – and betters 27,868 Polestars sold in the first half of 2023. 

It becomes the brand’s best half-year sales by 28 cars after 30,291 Polestars were sold in the second half of 2022.

The figure means Polestar is on track for a record year after 2024’s 15 per cent decline to 44,851 full-year sales. 

Australia sales are up, too, with not only the aforementioned 23 per cent rise for H1, but also a more impressive 38 per cent rise in the second quarter of this year (April-June).

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Year-to-date, Polestar has sold 1173 cars in Australia, with the new Polestar 4 mid-size SUV – introduced in November last year – making up more than half, with 676 sales.

Polestar is sitting at 35th in overall brand sales, above Genesis (#38, 765 sales) and fellow Geely-owned brand Zeekr (#41, 450 sales).

While the Polestar 4 led the sales race, end-of-financial-year deals on the Polestar 3 and run-out deals – which remain ongoing – for the Polestar 2 also boosted sales.

“It’s exactly the target [of] where we want to be,” Polestar Australia managing director Scott Maynard told CarExpert and select media on a conference call. 

Mr Maynard said its Australian sales numbers could have been higher, too “Our number in June [339] was slightly held back on the potential that we had, more by our ability to physically pre-deliver and deliver all of the cars that we had in our order bank,” he said.

“We carried an active order bank into July that’s substantially more than the number that we put through the system in June – there’s clearly some pent up demand, and our ability to service that is going to be key.”

Mr Maynard took over from Samantha Johnson as the head of the local arm of the EV maker just over 12 months ago. 

“I’m really comfortable with that result because it’s driven predominantly by private [sales]; it’s not being topped up by the bulk fleet deliveries that sustained our 2024 result,” he said.

“There was a particularly large bulk delivery through the system in June of last year, and despite that, we’re still showing significant improvement. 

“That was the last of that style of bulk deliveries that we did. And whilst we still see a place for fleet, not in the same way, not with the same appetite that we were going for that large fleet in previous years to sustain the number. 

“To be able to show growth through predominantly private sales, that’s going really well.”

Tesla still leads EV sales in Australia – despite sales declines both here and globally in the first half of the year – while the Tesla Model Y is the top-selling EV, with nearly triple the sales of the second-place BYD Sealion 7, and the Polestar 4 sitting 14th.

Despite its growth, Polestar Australia sits behind the EV sales of Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and BMW – the latter of which has sold almost triple the number of EVs in Australia this year.

“It doesn’t greatly concern me that we’re not outselling Volvo, given we don’t have the same number of sales points, nor intend to, and we don’t have the same breadth of range, and nor do we intend to, so I’m okay with that position,” said Mr Maynard.

“Some of those other brands are brands that have been operating in this country for many, many years, and for us to have been selling cars in Australia for three and two of those with one model puts us in a really strong position, provided we continue to grow like that, but I’m comfortable we can.”

The EV brand will open order books one another new model this year – the Porsche Taycan-rivalling Polestar 5 – but first customer deliveries won’t be until 2026, so it won’t add to its 2025 sales tally.

It won’t have another new vehicle in its lineup until the Polestar 7 SUV arrives in Australia – currently scheduled for 2028 – which will be followed by the delayed Polestar 6 sports car. 

Regardless, the Polestar Australia boss expects the sales growth to continue as the brand pushes an awareness campaign – highlighted by a new deal with the Melbourne Football Club to sponsor its AFLW Demons football squad. 

“We’re quite excited now about the second half, and we expect to see the same overall, better than the Australian market,” Mr Maynard said.

“If I look at the brands that are growing in Australia right now, and I’m talking across all drive platforms, not just EV, Polestar’s growth is second only to Rolls-Royce and Mini,” he added. 

“Now that’s the premium competitor set that we analyse, but that set takes in all the brands I think we would generally consider in the premium set. So, it’s the growth aspect that we’re really thrilled about.”

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