Polestar announces changes to management team

After Polestar missed its own sales target for 2023, the electric car brand is restructuring its management. Among other things, the heads of sales and finance are being replaced. And a former top manager from the VW Group has been appointed to the board.

With 54,600 vehicles delivered, Polestar reportedly fell well short of its annual target, which had recently been lowered to 60,000 electric cars. Initially, up to 80,000 deliveries had been planned. The result for 2022 (51,500 units) was only just exceeded.

Although the changes to the Management Board are not officially linked to the missed targets for 2023, both the timing and the positions themselves suggest that there is a connection. Polestar has replaced its Head of Sales and Head of Finance.

Kristian Elvefors has been appointed Global Head of Sales. He will replace Mike Whittington, who will leave Polestar after a transition phase, as will the previous Chief Financial Officer Johan Malmqvist. The position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Polestar will be taken over temporarily by Per Ansgar until a permanent successor has been found. Elvefors and Ansgar both have a Volvo past, Elvefors was most recently UK Head of Volvo and Ansgar has held several management positions in finance within Volvo Cars, for example as Deputy CFO or CFO of Volvo Cars China.

“I would like to thank Johan and Mike for their many years of combined service and commitment to Polestar – we all wish them well in the future,” says Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath. “I am delighted to welcome Per and Kristian to Polestar. Their combined experience and skills will play a key role in delivering on our business plan: securing profitable growth through our growing model line-up and reaching cash flow breakeven in 2025.”

Ingenlath has been CEO of Polestar since its relaunch as an electric brand. Previously, the German was Head of Design at Volvo for many years. It is not known whether his chair is also shaking. However, the current personnel changes indicate that the Board of Directors will not shy away from replacing the managers responsible if targets are missed.

There has also been a change on the board itself: Polestar has appointed Winfried Vahland as a new director on the board. Vahland is currently a member of the Supervisory Board of Proton Holdings, but is best known as the former head of China at Volkswagen and Skoda CEO – Skoda sales increased significantly under Vahland’s leadership. For a long time, he was also considered a candidate for higher positions in the VW Group.

“I’m delighted to welcome Winfried to the Board,” says former Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson, who chairs the Polestar Board. “The company will benefit from his significant automotive industry experience and track-record of delivering profitable growth through a combination of successful business and product portfolio development.”

polestar.com