STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish automaker Polestar unveiled its grand tourer (GT) sports car, the Polestar 5, at the Munich auto show on Monday, but said it won’t sell the model initially in the United States and China.
A flurry of automakers showcased new models at the show, many unveiling lower-cost electric vehicles (EV) as Europe’s auto sector grapples with an EV slowdown and a continuing price war.
Polestar, however, launched its long-awaited sports car, priced at nearly double the starting price of its preceding Polestar 4 model.
The Polestar 5 will start at 119,900 euros ($140,870.51) in Germany, compared with 61,900 euros for the Polestar 4.
The company has struggled to expand the market for its EV lineup, hit by U.S. tariffs, and has shifted to focus more on Europe.
While the Polestar 5 will be made in Chongqing, China, a company spokesperson said it would not initially be sold in the country, nor in the automaker’s third-largest market, the United States, which imposes tariffs of more than 100% on China-made cars.
The launch, initially planned for 2024, will also skip Canada and South Korea.
Earlier in September, the brand reported a wider loss for the second quarter, after U.S. tariffs and intensifying price pressure led to an impairment charge of its flagship model, Polestar 3.
The SUVs Polestar 3 and 4 account for more than half of its global sales. The company has earlier stated that Polestar 5 is not meant to be a volume-heavy car.
The Polestar 5 evolved from a concept car first introduced in 2020, called the Polestar Precept, designed to showcase the brand’s future vision in terms of design, technology and sustainability.
The dual-motor version of the car has a range of 670 kilometres (416 miles) on a single charge, the company said in a statement, while the performance version can drive up to 565 km.
While the next model after this would have been the Polestar 6, a roadster, in 2026, the company decided earlier this year to push back its launch and prioritise the Polestar 7, an electric SUV that will be produced in a Volvo factory in Slovakia in 2028.
($1 = 0.8511 euros)
(Reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockholm and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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