Polestar expands their Supervisory Board

Before its planned listing on the US stock exchange Nasdaq in the second half of this year, the electric car manufacturer Polestar has announced that it will expand its supervisory board. Some heads from Volvo will join the board – and ex-Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann.

The chairman of the board is Håkan Samuelsson, who will hand over his leadership role at Volvo Cars to designated successor Jim Rowan on 21 March. Rowan will also be part of the Polestar supervisory board, but only as a simple member.

The situation is different for Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath: He will become an Executive Director on the Supervisory Board, but the German car designer and manager will continue to perform his role as Chairman of the Board in parallel.

Polestar states that with the appointment to the supervisory board, it wants to expand the board with competencies “in the electric vehicle sector and in the international capital markets and create a first-class structure in terms of international corporate governance”.

To this end, former Continental and Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann is also to join the supervisory board, as Neumann not only has experience in the classic car industry but also in eMobility start-ups from his time at Evelozcity/Canoo – including raising capital. Neumann himself also announced the new post on LinkedIn.

Other members of the supervisory board are Karen Francis (ex-Vice President at GM), David Wei (ex-CEO Alibaba), Daniel Li (CEO of Geely Holding), Carla De Geyseleer (ex-CFO Volvo Cars) and David Richter (VP DoorDash and ex-VP Uber).

Polestar intends to list on the US Nasdaq technology exchange as part of a SPAC merger with Gores Guggenheim, as reported. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022.

In addition, Volvo Cars announced that it will continue to hold its shares in Polestar at 49.5 per cent. To this end, the company formulated its intention to subscribe to potential future shares issued by Polestar in proportion to its stake. “Volvo Cars’ investment in Polestar is long‐term and strategically important. Volvo Cars strives to act as responsible shareholder and business partner to Polestar,” the Swedish company wrote.

polestar.com, volvocars.com (Volvo statements)