Michael Lohscheller takes over as CEO of Polestar

Polestar, the electric car brand of Geely and Volvo, announced the appointment of Michael Lohscheller as its new CEO. In October, he will succeed long-term CEO Thomas Ingenlath, who has held the position since 2017. The new appointment comes shortly after another significant change at the top of the board.

Lohscheller is a familiar face in the industry. The 55-year-old was previously CEO of Opel, VinFast and Nikola. He will now take over from Thomas Ingenlath on 1 October, who has been in this role for seven years, i.e. since Polestar started operating as its own brand for hybrid and electric cars. Previously, Polestar was a tuning division of Volvo under the name Polestar Engineered.

The CEO change is apparently at Ingenlath’s request. Polestar announced that he resigned with effect from 1 October 2024. The Swedish-Chinese company describes his successor, Michael Lohscheller, as having “a wealth of expertise in the automotive industry, particularly in navigating competitive markets and scaling businesses.”

The task for the German manager is thus clear: Polestar will expand its global presence in the coming years and secure market share in the premium electric vehicle segment. The carmaker currently offers three models – the Polestar 2, the Polestar 3, and the Polestar 4, which it started delivering to customers last week.

By the way, Lohscheller former position as head of the German Association for International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) goes to former VP André Schmidt. At least for now. The association is now looking for a new candidate, who is then nominated for election by the members.

The change of CEO comes just a few weeks after another change at the top at Polestar. In June, Winfried Vahland took over as Chairman of Polestar’s Board of Directors from former Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson. Samuelsson was considered a great advocate of CEO Ingenlath. It is thus possible that the vacancies on the Board of Directors and in operational management are related.

As the new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Vahland now welcomes Lohscheller to the company. “Polestar has experienced an exceptional start-up phase and with a broader model line-up, Michael Lohscheller is the ideal leader to guide Polestar into its next chapter,” Vahland says. “His deep industry knowledge, especially in driving operational excellence, developing a coherent product strategy and strengthening the global market presence will be instrumental in the next chapter of Polestar’s growth. With Scandinavian heritage, passion and performance Polestar will set new standards for future individual mobility. Geely remains deeply committed to Polestar’s success, and with Michael at the helm, supported by a dynamic leadership team, we are well-positioned for continued innovation and growth.”

On a site note, Polestar’s ownership structure only changed in the spring. Volvo Cars cut its stake in the company from 48 to 18 per cent, with Geely taking over most of the shares that became available.

Michael Lohscheller already has his say in the Polestar press release on the changing of the guard in the CEO position: ‘”I am honoured to join Polestar at such an exciting time in the company’s history. Polestar has already established itself as one of the most desirable and innovative brands in the electric vehicle space, and I look forward to working with the talented team to build on this strong foundation and accelerate our development.”

Outgoing CEO Thomas Ingenlath is also quoted: “I am very proud of what we’ve achieved together in the last seven years. We had the vision of an electric premium brand which puts performance and design at its core. And we made it, the dream became reality: Polestar is the only true global premium electric brand, we just launched the Polestar 3 and 4, we are producing on two continents – thank you to everybody who contributed so far on this journey, it was a lifetime experience to build up this brand with you all. I wish Michael and the team the best for the next chapter of Polestar.”

Winfried Vahland recognises Thomas Ingenlath’s achievements as follows: “Thomas has been instrumental in shaping Polestar into the innovative and forward-thinking brand it is today, leading its transformation from a Volvo performance division into the only true global premium electric vehicle brand, with an outstanding focus on design, performance and premium qualities. We extend our deepest gratitude for his leadership.”

media.polestar.com, vdik.de (Association for International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers; in German)