Polestar
Image Credits: Polestar
Electric performance car manufacturer Polestar, jointly owned by Volvo and its Chinese parent company Geely, has announced that it will be opening an R&D centre in Coventry, UK, in order to strengthen the brand's ability to design and engineer future EVs.
In a positive sign for the beleaguered UK car industry, the decision by Polestar comes at a time when several car manufacturers including Nissan, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover have moved local production overseas in what some have seen as a warning that Brexit is deterring suppliers and EU workers.
Polestar said that Brexit had not been a factor in the decision and the move was more about harnessing British engineering skills.
At first, 60 jobs will be created at the new Coventry centre with the intention to expand over the rest of the year.
"Investing in the automotive engineering talent that the UK has to offer will strengthen our capabilities,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Chief Executive Officer at Polestar. “The passion and dedication of these great engineers fit the Polestar spirit perfectly and will allow us to create some really awesome cars!”
"Polestar's role as a technology spearhead requires new and developing skills in low-volume, light-weight, multi-material performance car engineering. The UK operation will allow us to take the next steps towards our future cars," Hans Pehrson, responsible for Research and Development at Polestar said.
“The team that will kick start the new UK R&D subsidiary is already well-versed in Polestar engineering philosophy, and we will expand the initial team further during the course of 2019. These engineers will be a great complement to our existing R&D team based in Sweden, and other supporting teams around the world,” he continued.
At present, the company manufactures its Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid in China, where it will also soon begin production of the Polestar 2, a competitor to Tesla's Model 3 in the country.
The UK R&D site will be the company's first independent facility having relied on Volvo's R&D capacity until now.
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