Source | YuanAuto

The Zeekr 001, Zeekr 009, and Volvo EM90 are all models rolled out at Geely’s Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Plant. Given the latest new car sales figures for July and the plant’s designed annual production capacity of 300,000 units, this Geely facility may soon grapple with the issue of how to allocate its surplus production capacity.

However, it turns out such assumptions are only scratching the surface. The Geely Hangzhou Bay Plant also manufactures a model—the Polestar 4—that has seen its domestic market collapse since 2025, with persistent rumors of delisting, yet continues to gain traction in overseas markets.

"It's been a week of churning out Polestars every day. Maybe we should just call it the Polestar Factory," quipped a netizen, who claimed to be a Zeekr 009 owner, during a live stream of Zeekr's smart factory on a social media platform, lamenting the high proportion of Polestar 4 models on the production line. Based on YuanAuto's roughly 10-minute observation during the live stream on August 12, the production line processed 6 Polestar 4s, 3 Zeekr 009s, and 1 Zeekr 001.

The frenetic pace of the assembly line is partly attributable to Polestar's strategy of producing and selling vehicles with minimal inventory, but more significantly, it reflects the Polestar 4's popularity among European consumers. According to Polestar's official data, its retail sales in the first half of 2026 hit a record 30,423 units, with the UK and Germany witnessing year-on-year sales increases of 9.2% and 26.8%, respectively, with the Polestar 4 accounting for the lion's share.

Despite being absent from the latest monthly sales rankings by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the China Passenger Car Association, the Polestar 4 is aiding Polestar in making an unconventional comeback.

01

No Domestic Buyers vs. Insufficient Supply Overseas

Until May 2025, Polestar, a brand born from Volvo and backed by Geely, continued to introduce new variants of the Polestar 4 in the domestic market, but to little avail. As the brand's sole model with high-volume potential, the Polestar 4 consistently recorded only double-digit monthly sales before and after the new variant's launch, directly prompting significant strategic shifts.

In October of the same year, Polestar shuttered its last direct-sales store at L+Plaza in Shanghai's Qiantan area. The automaker responded at the time that its business model in China was undergoing strategic adjustments to "better cater to the diverse and rapidly evolving consumer demands in the Chinese market." As of now, Polestar's official website still states "No Polestar Space location information available," but it does offer an option for new car test drive reservations.

It's crucial to note that for the Polestar 4 and Polestar as a whole, the lack of domestic interest and robust overseas performance have never been causally linked; instead, they have coexisted for an extended period. Prior to this record-breaking half-year sales performance, Polestar had already achieved its best-ever annual sales in 2025.

This underscores that Polestar has demonstrated its ability to grow without relying on the Chinese market.

The high recognition of Polestar in overseas markets stems from two key factors. First, as a Nordic luxury brand, Polestar's heritage in Europe far outstrips its presence in China, with broader local acceptance of its positioning as a more premium brand than Volvo. Second, built on Geely's SEA platform, the Polestar 4's electrification and intelligence capabilities may lack standout features domestically but are competitive against local automakers' offerings overseas.

From Polestar's vantage point, competing overseas is more cost-effective than in China. Take the Polestar 4 as an example: its official guide price for the variant launched in May 2025 starts at RMB 338,000, while in European countries like the UK and Germany, its starting price is roughly equivalent to RMB 500,000.

Considering that Polestar 4 models for both the Chinese mainland and European markets roll off the assembly line at Geely's Hangzhou Bay Plant, despite higher transportation and sales costs, selling the cars in Europe is clearly the more profitable strategy.

02

Zeekr's Strongest Ally for Overseas Expansion?

Looking ahead to the latter half of the year for Polestar, the upcoming production of a Polestar 4-derived SUV model at its Busan plant in South Korea is anticipated to drive significant growth for the brand. The new model is slated to begin deliveries in the fourth quarter of this year, with a robust order backlog. The first batch of mass-produced vehicles will be sold in the South Korean domestic market and North America.

Notably, South Korea was also a pivotal growth market for Polestar in the first half of the year, with CEO Michael Lohscheller highlighting it after the UK and Germany—Polestar's two core markets—in the company's half-year financial report.

The stronger Polestar's foothold in markets like South Korea, the UK, and Germany, the more advantageous it is for Zeekr's foray into these overseas markets. When targeting consumers in these regions, what better introduction for Zeekr than as "a Chinese luxury brand that co-produces multiple models with the Polestar 4"?

"For Zeekr, further overseas expansion will be a pivotal strategy in the next phase, and countries where Polestar has already established market influence, such as the UK and South Korea, align perfectly with Zeekr's next target markets.

Revisiting Polestar, its sales target for 2026 is to achieve low double-digit year-on-year growth. Given its performance in the first half—maintaining sales growth without launching new models—and the upcoming Polestar 4-derived SUV in the second half, Polestar should face little pressure in meeting this goal. With the anticipated next-generation Polestar 2, a key sales driver, set to arrive by 2027, this "small but mighty" brand is poised to become a formidable asset in Geely Auto's global portfolio.

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