Polestar Is Replacing Its CEO

Polestar will replace CEO Thomas Ingenlath with a new top executive, Michael Lohscheller. The news comes in the middle of a major product rollout for the young brand, which recently debuted two new models and is in the process of launching two more.

By joining Polestar, Lohscheller continues a career marked by sudden appointments to CEO positions at young electric brands. After serving as the CEO of Opel from 2017 to 2021, Lohscheller became the CEO of young electric automaker VinFast in July 2021. He stepped down at the end of 2021, and by February of 2022 he was the President of electric truck manufacturer Nikola. He stepped down from that role in August of last year.

Ingenlath's time at the top of Polestar ends after seven years, dating back to the effective founding of the brand as a car company. In that time, the former Volvo designer led the company through the launch of a hybrid grand tourer and three dedicated EV models. He has overseen the company as it distanced itself from the Volvo brand it sprouted from and become more independent under their shared parent company, Geely.

The swap at Polestar is the third major leadership move at a Geely-owned brand since December, following changes at Lotus and the Lynk & Co brand not offered in America. It is a difficult time for the Chinese-English-Swedish automaker family, which has invested heavily in EVs across a variety of brands and now has to figure out how to make them all work together. Both Lotus and Polestar face major potential problems with a new wave of tariffs expected to be imposed on Chinese-built EVs in the U.S. and Europe, although each brand has some production in other countries as well.

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