China's new energy market is developing very rapidly, and those brands that enter the market relatively early may have an advantage in the market, BYD is a typical example, but there are also some brands in the market that get up early and catch up late, Geely and Volvo jointly built Polestar, is one of them.
Polestar has a fairly early history of development, it was established in 2017, and the first model Polestar 2 was released in 2019, which once caused a lot of pressure on Tesla, but at present, the influence of the Polestar brand in China is very small, and it needs to launch some blockbuster models to squeeze into the mainstream market.
Not long ago, the all-new Polestar 4 was officially announced**, priced at $2999-39.990,000 yuan.
What kind of car is the Polestar 4?
The Polestar 4 car has had a lot of controversy from the beginning, because it is highly homologous to the ZEEKR 001 and is regarded by many consumers as a shell replacement product of the ZEEKR 001, but objectively speaking, this car still has a lot of uniqueness.
Polestar 4 is indeed highly similar to Zeekr 001 in terms of appearance, but its headlight shape is more individual, and the body is more fluid, the disadvantage is that the Polestar brand is less well-known in China, and it is difficult to compare with the Zeekrypton that has formed a climate.
The Polestar 4 is positioned as a mid-to-large SUV, with a body length of 4845mm and a wheelbase of 2999mm. This design may not be so stunning in China, but it is first-class in overseas markets.
In terms of cockpit, the new car adopts a full touch design, and most functions can be operated through a floating central control screen. This car uses dual Mobileve EyeQ5H driving assistance chips, and the whole system is equipped with L2 level driving assistance functions as standard, active braking, lane change assistance, fatigue driving reminder, lane departure warning, 360-degree panoramic image, automatic parking, high-speed NOH, etc.
In addition, the new car is also equipped with Polaster OS on-board intelligent system, which supports facial recognition, intelligent voice control, 5G network, OTA upgrade, mobile APP remote control, streaming ** rearview mirror, 50W mobile phone fast charging and other common functions, which has a good performance in intelligence.
In terms of power, the Polestar 4 is available in both single-motor and dual-motor versions, with the single-motor version having a maximum power of 200kW and a range of 668km and a fast charging time of about 40 minutes.
The dual-motor version is equipped with a front and rear dual motor and an electric all-wheel drive system, with a total motor power of 400 kW and an all-electric range of 682 km. In the same class of models, this performance is still good.
Overall, the Polestar 4 is a decent performance model, 29The ** sold at 990,000 yuan is even lower than ZEEKR 001, so the competitiveness is still relatively strong.
It is worth mentioning that before this car, the Polestar 2, a compact sedan under the Polestar brand, had a starting price of 29980,000 yuan. Pricing like the Polestar 4 proves that it has become more pragmatic.
What else is Polestar doing to boost sales?
Before the Polestar 4, the Polestar brand was relatively well-positioned, so its popularity was relatively unimpressive, and sales did not meet expectations. This time, the Polestar 4 is on the market, and the overall performance is relatively high, but it needs various "supporting facilities" to be recognized by users.
At the same time as the release of Polestar 4**, Polestar officially announced a new service system. First of all, in terms of energy replenishment, Polestar officially said that it will build 60 self-operated charging stations in 2024, covering 550,000 high-quality charging piles.
At the same time, Polestar has also become the first brand in China to share a supercharging network with Tesla, and with Tesla's advantageous charging network, the Polestar brand will largely solve the previous shortcomings in energy replenishment.
In addition, Polestar will offer a one-to-one exclusive Proxima Centauri service, and plans to expand its retail business to 55 stores by the end of the year and 100 stores by June 2024, covering major first- and second-tier cities.
At the same time, Polestar has also strengthened its partnership with Volvo, which is expected to open Volvo Cars after-sales service centers in 72 cities by the end of 2024 to serve Polestar owners.
What are the prospects for Polestar from abroad to China?
A little over a year ago, Polestar's popularity was largely due to its good performance in the European market, and the brand was once compared to Tesla. But judging from this move, the Polestar brand seems to be focusing its development on the domestic market, officially calling 2023 the "first year of China", and seems to be full of confidence in the domestic market.
In terms of technology and performance, Polestar does not have any shortcomings, but it needs to pay attention to two obvious problems in the domestic market.
First of all, its popularity is relatively low, and its domestic foundation is weak, while China's new energy market has entered the knockout stage. How to let more consumers know themselves is a big problem.
Secondly, how to avoid competition with ZEEKR. Judging from the price of Polestar 4 and a series of official actions of Polestar, it has given up its previous high-end positioning, and the price of the main model will be between 30-400,000 yuan, forming a direct competition with models such as Polestar 001.
However, many models of Polestar and Zeekr are built on the same platform, and how to distinguish them and avoid internal friction will be a problem that Polestar has to face.
Polestar is a rare new energy brand that has been transferred back to China from abroad, and the last one may be Jia Yueting's Faraday Future. With the blessing of the two major brands of Volvo and Geely, Polestar will not encounter any financial problems, but the competition in China's new energy market is far fiercer than that of the European market, and it is still unknown whether the Polestar brand can gain a foothold in the market.