Polestar has ambitious expansion plans, but U.S. car buyers are likely to miss out on several of its upcoming new offerings because of tariffs on Chinese-built cars that can exceed 100% for Chinese-made EVs.
The Sweden-based, Chinese-owned EV maker’s plan to start deliveries of its Polestar 5 grand tourer this summer launches a drive to bring four new models to market over a two-year period.
The high-performance Polestar 5 won’t be sold in the U.S. however – at least not initially – because it is built in China and subject to punishing U.S. tariffs.
For other reasons, including tariffs and market-related issues, the Polestar 5 launch also will skip Canada and the ultra-competitive Chinese markets The company hasn’t said when – or if – it will bring its flagship model to those markets.
The timetable for launches following the Polestar 5 calls for a new variant of the Polestar 4 SUV Coupe – reportedly a station wagon design – slated for the fourth quarter this year, with the next-generation Polestar 2 compact sedan coming early in 2027 and the Polestar 7 premium compact SUV, slated for 2028. The Polestar 3 SUV and Polestar 4 SUV Coupe already are on sale in the U.S.
The Polestar 7 is scheduled to be built at a Volvo plant in Slovakia and thus would avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese cars – duties that can exceed 100% for electric vehicles.
The Polestar 2, the EV maker’s base compact model, hasn’t been offered in the U.S. market since late 2025. Those tariffs on vehicles built in China – exceeding 100% for EVs – made it too expensive. The new 2 also is scheduled to be built in China. Polestar hasn’t said whether it will be offered in the U.S.
Why Chinese car tariffs on a Swedish company?
Polestar, headquartered in Sweden, is an offshoot of Volvo Cars. While the companies are independent of one another, they share some facilities and many components, and both are majority owned by a Chinese company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
Controlling interest in Volvo is held by Geely alone, while Polestar is owned primarily by Geely and its founder, Li Shifu, through his private PSD Investments, with Volvo Cars maintaining a minority stake. Outside investors also hold small stakes in both companies. Volvo is traded in the U.S. on over-the-counter market and Polestar is listed on the NASDAQ exchange.
Most Polestar models are built in China, but Polestar also shares Volvo’s U.S. manufacturing plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, where it builds the Polestar 3 SUV for the North American market. U.S. versions of the Polestar 4 SUV are built at a Renault plant in South Korea and are hit with only a 15% import tariff.
Although it builds cars there, Polestar has all but bowed out of the Chinese EV market. It never caught on there as an especially desirable brand and has been buried under fierce competition from other EVs including those from its parent, Geely, and from BYD . Those two companies trade positions almost monthly as China’s largest EV sellers and BYD recently replaced Tesla as the world’s biggest EV maker.
Which Polestars will U.S. shoppers see?
Ultimately, Polestar is likely to sell at least the 3, both versions of the 4 and the 7 in the U.S.
It hasn’t closed the door completely on future sales here of the new 2 and the 5, but that’s highly dependent on the Trump Administration’s frequently shifting tariff policies, which – for now at least – make it financially improbable for any Chinese-built EV to be sold in the U.S.
What about that Polestar roadster?
Polestar has made a lot of noise about a luscious roadster, the Polestar 6, that’s based off the Polestar O2 concept. There’s even a page devoted to it in the company’s media guide.
It Initially was due sometime this year, but there’s no mention of a Polestar 6 in the just-announced Polestar expansion plan, and word is that while it is still in the future plan as a small-volume model, it won’t launch – if ever – until 2029 at the earliest as Polestar pushes to build sales with more mainstream models.
