What the 2024 Polestar 3 reveals about the brand's future

On paper, the 2024 Polestar 3 is exactly what it sounds like: Polestar’s third model. It’s also the brand’s first entry into the SUV segment, but there’s a lot more to it than that. It illustrates the direction that executives plan to steer Polestar in as they embark on a major expansion.

“The core of our brand is represented in the 3,” affirmed company boss (and ex-Volvo designer) Thomas Ingenlath. Maximilian Missoni, the firm’s head of design, echoed these comments: “This car really shows where Polestar is going,” he told me shortly after unveiling the 3.

Where is Polestar going? Above all, it’s moving away from co-owner Volvo. Its first two cars (called 1 and 2, respectively) came to life under Volvo’s watch; the 1 made its debut in 2013 as the gorgeous, P1800-inspired Volvo Concept Coupe and the 2 was revealed three years later as the Volvo 40.2 concept, which picked up a ball set rolling by the rare, high-riding S60 Cross Country (remember that one?) in 2015.

The significant difference between the 3 and earlier Polestar models is that it was designed in-house from the get-go. Sure, it’s built on the same basic platform that will underpin the next-generation XC90 due out in the coming months but nearly everything else is brand-specific, including the suspension, steering, chassis tuning, tires, interior layout, and the Precept concept-inspired exterior design.

“It’s like a guitar: two different musicians can create completely different music with the same instrument,” Ingenlath pointed out.

One of the biggest differentiators is design. Angular yet aerodynamic, the 3 inaugurates the design language that will permeate the rest of the range during the 2020s. There’s a sprinkling of Volvo-ness up front, the distinctive shape of the LED daytime running lights notably creates a visual link between the two brands, but it’s subtle. What’s inside (and, crucially, what’s not inside) is even more important.

“It was a deliberate decision to make the 3 with two rows of seats. In a way, that stands for what we do at Polestar. We don’t try to do everything. We have to pick what is the right decision for our brand. Creating a luxurious and airy cabin for four or five people was possible because we clearly said we don’t want a seven-seater. If we would have added two more seats, immediately the aerodynamic flow of the silhouette would have to be compromised and immediately you would have to make a compromise in terms of how you position the other two rows. That’s clearly not our path.” Ingenlath explained. Reading between the lines strongly suggests the XC90 will arrive with three rows.

Joakim Rydholm, the company’s head of chassis development, stressed the 3 won’t drive like the XC90 it’s related to because his team tuned the chassis in-house to make it sportier than Volvo’s. “They’re two different cars with two different philosophies,” he noted. And, while the platform is relatively modular and taking out one of the electric motors is technically possible, a one-motor variant isn’t in the pipeline.

Polestar looks ready to stand on its own, then. It doesn’t have Volvo’s vast heritage, but it argues that’s an advantage because it can create a car on a blank sheet of paper without catering to pre-established expectations. The newcomer status also partially explains why Polestar has been more open about its future models than many of its peers and rivals: the 5 won’t steal sales from an existing model, for example.

Heritage isn’t totally lost on the Polestar team, and Ingenlath interestingly argued the brand is settling into a historically important spot.

“In the past, Scandinavia had two very strong and iconic brands. One of them kind of disappeared, and now Polestar is coming up to fill that void,” he pointed out, seemingly referring to Saab without calling out the innovative, quirky, and now-dead carmaker by name.

We already know what’s next: due out in late 2023, the 3 will be followed by a crossover with a fastback-like roof line called 4, a sedan inspired by the Precept concept named 5, and the production version of the convertible O2 concept dubbed — you guessed it — 6. When all is said and done, Polestar’s range will extend across several segments. Releasing a car below the 2 has been ruled out, and not just because the 1 nameplate has already been used: the firm wants to play in the premium space and avoid spreading its resources too thin.

“We have no plans for the moment to make a smaller car. We have the 2, and in the future we want to keep such a position in our portfolio, but today we don’t see that we will extend into a small segment. Designing a small Polestar is tempting but, again: focus,” Ingenlath said.