Volvo has acquired Polestar, a Swedish company with which it has been working in motor sports since 1996.
Polestar will now be used as the model name for special high-performance Volvos across the Volvo range including their advanced Hybrid models like the all new XC90 and V wagon models . In 2015, Volvo expects to sell 750 Polestar versions of the V60 wagon and S60 saloon models, and hopes to increase that to between 1,000 and 1,500 cars a year.
Polestar also plans to use Volvo’s plug-in hybrid technology to develop next-generation performance cars.
“Driving a Volvo Polestar is a special experience. We have decided to bring this experience to more Volvo drivers, placing the full resources of Volvo behind the development of Polestar as the model name for our high performance cars,” said Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson.
Volvo has not acquired the racing division of Polestar, which will remain under the control of former Polestar owner Christian Dahl, and will be renamed.
“We are extremely satisfied with the way the performance business with Volvo has developed. But we are a racing team first and foremost. This is an opportunity to return our full attention to our core business – to develop and race Volvo cars,” said Christian Dahl.
Source-Volvo