A rapid rise in vehicle sales sees Polestar increase revenue in the first half of 2022 by 95 per cent.
Polestar increased its revenue by 95 per cent in the first six months of 2022 despite the ongoing pandemic struggles and enforced lockdowns in China.
The Swedish electric car firm, owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, brought in $1.38 billion (AUD$2.03bn) worldwide from 1 January to 30 June, compared with $534.8 million (AUD$785.1m) for the same period in 2021.
The huge increase in revenue was mainly down to a rapid rise in vehicle sales. Polestar delivered a total of 21,185 cars, compared with 9510 in the first half of 2021, representing a year-on-year increase of 123 per cent.
Polestar’s gross profit, meanwhile, rose to $17.6m (AUD$25.8m), which the firm attributed to the “higher sales of Polestar 2”.
While Polestar’s revenues and profits grew, so did its general expenses, totalling $446.8m (AUD$655.9m) – an increase of 60 per cent year on year, which, Polestar says, is down to its “rapid global expansion”. The firm entered six new markets in 2022: the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Portugal and Ireland.
The car maker’s operating losses also increased to $520.5m (AUD$764.1m) because of investments into its commercial expansion and a one-time share-based listing charge when it merged with acquisition firm Gores Guggenheim.
Despite finishing the first six months of 2022 with just under half of its expected deliveries made, Polestar said it expects to achieve its full-year delivery target of 50,000 cars.
Most of the year’s deliveries are expected to come in the fourth quarter because of Covid-related disruptions in China at the start of the year.
The firm has also faced disruption caused by shortages of materials, such as semiconductors and lithium ion cells.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said: “We made important progress in the first half of 2022 as we doubled revenues and volume, and successfully listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.
“In addition, we maintained strong momentum in our global order take and expect to deliver 50,000 cars to our customers this year, meeting our 2022 sales guidance. With several ground-breaking cars to come, Polestar is poised for a period of rapid growth.”
One of those new cars is the Polestar 6, an open-roofed electric grand tourer. The EV sold out its initial 500-car launch-edition run a week after it made its public debut at Pebble Beach in California.
Jack Warrick