Polestar 6 not dead and still a chance to launch

The Polestar 6 electric convertible project has not been cancelled, despite being pushed down the priority list while the Swedish-Chinese EV brand focusses on more important volume models. Global head of product communications Graeme Lambert told carsales “a lot of the development work has already been done” on the 6, which is effectively a two-door, open-top spinoff of the new Polestar 5 sedan.

The Polestar 6 was announced in 2022 as a high-end, electric 2+2 convertible based on the bespoke Polestar Performance Architecture (PPA) platform debuted by the Polestar 5.

While the 5 has made it to production, the 6 was put on ice last year as part of a strategy pivot that saw Polestar deprioritise the convertible in favour of releasing the 7 small SUV and second-generation 2 sedan sooner.

Developed in the UK by a team of ex-Volvo, Lotus, Aston Martin and McLaren engineers headhunted by Polestar, the 5 and 6 are seriously exotic, making use of a bonded aluminium chassis that bears no relation to any existing Geely Group platform.

Before the UK base was shuttered last year, the Polestar 5 project was signed off and work on the Polestar 6 convertible reached advanced prototyping, culminating in a drive up the hill at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

“While I would hesitate to say it is 100 per cent finished, a lot of the development has already been done,” Lambert said.

“If you view the 6 as the two-door Polestar 5, essentially, the componentry is already there: the motors, the suspension, everything is exactly the same. The front half of the cabin is essentially the same.”

Incomplete tasks left on the ‘to-do list’ include the final design of the two rear seats, and the complex hardtop roof mechanism.

Lambert said the closure of the UK R&D centre wouldn’t stop those items from being ticked off in future by engineers in Sweden.

“I think we have the technical expertise still within the business – our wider R&D team have that technical expertise to finish that project.”

Even though the Polestar 6 is tantalisingly close to becoming a production electric 911 Cabriolet rival, Polestar needs to see solid financial performance from its cheaper models first.

It’s a process that requires sales volumes to increase, costs to be radically reduced, and margins improved.

Lambert said the question of whether the Polestar 6 will ever make it to showrooms as a halo car turns on whether the 7 and next-gen 2 are a success.

“The key for us is to deliver [the 7 and 2] correctly, drive the business forward, and then be in a position to do something else after,” he said.

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