Showrooms still 'so important' in digital age - Polestar UK boss
Polestar's Elstree site is its first suburban 'space'
Swedish EV brand opens sixth physical 'space' in the UK as it pushes to grow customer reach
Showrooms are still “so important” to online sales-driven car makers, the UK boss of Polestar has told Autocar, as the young brand opens its sixth ‘space’ in the country.
This newest site, in Elstree, on the outskirts of Watford, is the first situated away from a major city – contrary to its London North name – and as such is its biggest space to date.
There are plans to open at least another four in 2024.
Polestar is one of a number of brands (others include BYD, Lotus and MG) to adopt this pop-up style approach, with bases mainly cited in high-footfall city locations across the country, such as Manchester’s Trafford Centre.
These spaces offer potential customers “the chance to pop in” and “interact with the brand”, Polestar UK boss Jonathan Goodman told Autocar. “They continue to change the face of automotive retail in the UK,” he added.
Despite their easygoing approach, Goodman said that the importance of these spaces can't be overstated. “You can’t just have an online presence when you're selling a physical car; spaces like this are so important.”
The UK is Polestar's most profitable market, with 11,441 sales in 2023 to date of around 45,000 globally, and as such is under a spotlight to help drive the brand’s target of 290,000 annual sales by the end of 2025.
By this time, the Polestar 3, 4, 5, and 6 will have joined the line-up, themselves a key driver of sales, but another is opening more spaces – especially outside of cities.
Why? Goodman said the days of selling a car in a showroom is limited, because “the amazing part is [that] people do come in to see the car before then going home to order it online”.
London, Manchester and Birmingham are Polestar’s biggest customer bases currently, but launching more suburban sites such as the one in Elstree is a way of pushing the brand in front of even more eyes, said Goodman.
Still, cities continue to be a major target for the brand, he added, with a Glasgow space the next to open early next year as Polestar looks to branch into Scotland. It has already launched in Wales, with a site in Cardiff.
The newest type of space is more “traditional” than the inner-city one. In Elstree, it's connected to a Volvo dealership. The benefit of this: the ability to offer test drives.
“Test drives are crucial to us as a brand,” said Goodman. “It gives them a chance to experience a brand they may not know much about.”
He added that “for 90% [of people] who complete a test drive, this will be their first experience of an EV”, so making sure the experience is right is an important way of turning a visit into a sale.