Polestar, Volvo Car Group’s performance road car brand, has announced the initial launch markets for its first car, the Polestar 1. The launch markets are the United States, China, Germany, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. The Polestar spaces are expected to be opened by the middle of 2019. The countries that have been selected, in part, due to the initial customer demand in those markets. More countries will be introduced across the world and confirmed at a later date.

Polestar was launched as a separate brand from Volvo in October. The reception from consumers has been so strong that expressions of interest in the Polestar 1 already outnumber early production slots. During the brand’s launch day on October 17, one customer per minute was registering his/her interest in being among the first to claim a Polestar 1. The formal order books for the Polestar 1 will open in early 2018.

The Polestar 1 coupe, the first car baring the Polestar logo, has a 600 hp Electric Performance Hybrid powertrain with an electric-only range of 150 kms, which is, so far, the longest range on electric power of any hybrid in the world.

The Polestar 1, and all future Polestar cars, will be offered using a new subscription model. The no-deposit, all-inclusive monthly payment delivers hassle-free usage and covers insurance, depreciation, collection and delivery for inclusive servicing, and various on-demand benefits as-and-when required. Production of the Polestar 1 will start in mid-2019 in the new state-of-the-art, purpose-built Polestar Production Centre in Chengdu, China, where construction has commenced.