The days of electric car brand Polestar in America are now numbered. Today, the company revealed that the US Commerce Department has refused to authorize imports of the new Polestar from model year 2027 as part of a rule banning connected cars from automakers with Chinese links.
Polestar says it will continue to sell its existing stock of Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 SUVs and “will continue to support customers, including providing access to its service network.” But we can forget about the Polestar 5 sedan, Polestar 6 Roadster, or any future models coming to these shores.
The automaker was spun off from Volvo Cars as a pure EV brand several years ago by its corporate parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding, a Chinese company that also owns OEMs like Lynk & Co and Zeekar. And a few weeks ago, Commerce authorized Volvo to import MY27 vehicles. At the time, Polestar told Ars that it was continuing to work with US authorities to meet the regulations; That work was clearly in vain.
American domestic auto manufacturing interests have been extremely successful in garnering support for protectionist measures from across the political spectrum, although ironically the Polestar 3 SUV is manufactured at a Volvo plant near Charleston, South Carolina. The Polestar 4S destined for the US was built in South Korea, although most Polestar manufacturing takes place in China.
Michael Loescheller, CEO of Polestar, said, “The automotive industry is entering a new phase based on regional mobility. Our strategy reflects that Europe is our biggest growth engine and we plan to build the Polestar 7 in Europe.” “Our record sales in Q1 2025 and 2026 show we are making strong progress, with several new markets launching in Europe this year. Additionally, we will continue to invest in markets where we have opportunities to grow further, such as Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Canada.”
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