Polestar shares jumped Monday morning after the company laid out plans for commercial growth.
Shares of electric vehicle (EV) maker Polestar Automotive (PSNY 23.94%) soared as much as 30% on Monday to start the trading week. Shares pared some of that gain but remained higher by 18.5% as of 12:15 p.m. ET today.
A big commercial announcement is the reason for the pop. The Swedish EV brand jointly owned by Volvo and its Chinese parent company, Geely Automobile, announced a new sales model as well as executive level additions.
Adding new EV markets
Polestar currently builds most of its EVs in China, but will soon be manufacturing its Polestar 3 SUV at an existing Volvo plant in the United States. It also has plans for a factory in South Korea.
As it works to increase its geographic footprint for production, today it announced a new sales model that will expand its commercial footprint in new European, Asian, and Latin American markets.
The company now plans to enter seven new European markets through next year. That includes France, the second-largest market for EVs by volume in Europe after Germany. CEO Thomas Ingenlath summarized the plans: “Expanding our retail operations with new and existing partners will enable us to reach more customers. Through these partnerships and expansion, we will capitalize on our strong brand and growing model lineup.”
The company also made some moves at leadership positions to support its growth plans. It added new executives who came from Volvo and Chinese EV maker Nio to support its expanding commercial operations.
The stock jump reflected some optimism that the company’s expanding vehicle lineup and new sales plan can jump-start its volume. But it also comes after shares have dropped more than 65% year to date as global EV sales growth has slowed.
Today’s announcement is a nice step forward for Polestar, but it remains to be seen how much it can accelerate growth. Investors would likely be better off waiting for proof before jumping into the struggling stock.