Polestar has published its first quarter report with some goods news and not so good news. On the positive side their Q1 deliveries were up year-over-year (YoY), but the Swedish automaker is also cutting its workforce, delaying the launch of the Polestar 3 electric SUV, and as a result lowering their 2023 production guidance.
In the first three months of the year Polestar says it delivered 12,076 cars, an increase of 26% YoY, bringing their total fleet to more than 100,000 cars in 27 different markets.
The company recently announced the launch of two new cars, the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, both electric SUVs. However they have delayed the release of the Polestar 3, saying it was “recently informed” that more time will be needed to finalize the EVs software. As a result, production of Polestar 3 is now expected to start in the first quarter of 2024, instead of later this year. The Polestar 4 is still expected for China in the fourth quarter of 2023 and for other markets in early 2024.
With the delay Polestar also lowered their production guidance for this year. After originally hoping to build as many as 80,000 cars in 2023, Polestar now expects to build 60,000 to 70,000. The company said it is also cutting 10% of its workforce to keep costs down.
“We are taking necessary steps to strengthen Polestar in the near-term. While production of Polestar 3 will now start in the first quarter of 2024, the successful launch of Polestar 4 last month means that we add two strong offers in the attractive electric SUV market in 2024. I am confident that we will deliver on our growth ambitions and path towards profitability,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO.
As for the financials, Polestar’s first-quarter revenue for 2023 increased by 21%, reaching $546 million, below Wall Street’s expectations of around $570 million. Polestar’s net loss for the quarter was almost $9 million, a significant improvement from the $274.5 million loss reported in the first quarter of 2022. At the end of the quarter, the company had $884 million in cash and equivalents, down from the nearly $974 million it had at the end of 2022.
