The CEO of Polestar, Thomas Ingenlath, has resigned after seven years and will be replaced by former Opel-Vauxhall boss Michael Lohscheller. Ex-designer Ingenlath was appointed to lead Polestar when it was hived off from Swedish parent Volvo as a stand-alone EV brand in mid-2017. During his seven-year stewardship of the firm, he has overseen the launch of four production cars in 27 global markets, the public listing of the company and the opening of several new production sites. In more recent months, he has been charged with negotiating a path forward for the company as Volvo reduced its stake in Polestar from 48.3% to just 18% - prompting the firm to source £750 million in external funding. Ingenlath told Autocar recently that this change in share structure was a "non-dramatic situation" and he was confident of Polestar being able to secure the additional £350m it needs to develop and produce future models. "Jesus, we’ve managed so much. Of course we’re confident we’ll manage the last remaining bit,” he said. But now, just five months later, he is leaving the firm he has led since its formation and will hand over leadership to Lohscheller from 1 October. Confirming his resignation in a public statement, Ingenlath said: “I am very proud of what we’ve achieved together in the last seven years. We had the vision of an electric premium brand which puts performance and design at its core. "And we made it: the dream became reality. Polestar is the only true global premium electric brand; we just launched the Polestar 3 and 4; we are producing on two continents. Thank you to everybody who contributed so far on this journey. It was a lifetime experience to build up this brand with you all. I wish Michael and the team the best for the next chapter of Polestar.” Ingenlath did not give an official reason for his departure, nor any indication of his future intentions. His replacement, Michael Lohscheller, is a familiar name in the EV start-up sphere, having briefly served as CEO of Vietnamese company Vinfast after leaving Opel, and more recently as president of US firm Nikola Motor. He previously spent nearly a decade at Opel and was CEO from 2017-2021, during which time the company was acquired from General Motors by PSA - now part of the Stellantis group. He said: “I am honored to join Polestar at such an exciting time in the company’s history. Polestar has already established itself as one of the most desirable and innovative brands in the electric vehicle space, and I look forward to working with the talented team to build on this strong foundation and accelerate our development.” His first priorities from a product perspective will be overseeing the full global ramp-up of Polestar 3 and 4 deliveries, before attention shifts to the launch of the Polestar 5 saloon next year, and the 6 sports car the year after that.
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