Polestar: Brand with a future

m&k: Sascha Heiniger, Polestar is an exciting brand. In your own words: What does your brand stand for, what values are associated with it?

Sascha Heiniger: We are the new Swedish brand for all-electric, dynamic vehicles. We have a strong focus on design and sustainability. As a brand, we want to make a decisive contribution to improving our society by accelerating the shift towards electric and climate-neutral mobility.

What sets Polestar apart from its market competitors?

We are still a young automotive brand with a clear focus on all-electric vehicles. And as such, we don't carry a backpack from the past with us. For example, we don't have to promote combustion engine and electric models at the same time. This makes us much more consistent and also more credible in our appearance. I am convinced that this consistency is also very important to many of our customers.

You want to build the world's first climate-neutral car by 2030. What challenges are associated with this?

A climate-neutral car is the only logical next step. Simply installing an electric motor is not enough. The real goal must be to eliminate CO2 emissions from production through operation to recycling of the vehicle. That is of course a huge challenge, because for us it also means that we have to trace back all the supply chains and produce them in a climate-neutral way. Because by climate-neutral, we don't mean CO2 compensation, but a set-up in which no CO2 emissions are produced. For example, factories and transports operated with green energy or the use of recyclable materials.

What is your vision of "mobility in the future"?

Future mobility will be much more sustainable and flexible. We will choose the appropriate means of transportation for each situation even more consciously - be it the car, other individual means of transportation or public transport. I think that personal ownership of vehicles will still play a role, but in urban centers new car-sharing-based offerings will grow.

With which campaigns will Polestar make a name for itself in Switzerland in the future?

We have just opened our first Polestar Space in Zurich and the first Polestar Destination in Geneva. In addition to our exclusively online sales model, a physical presence is very important to us: people should also be able to drive our vehicles and experience them live. With our "2 on Tour" concept, we are also offering test drives of the Polestar 2 at various locations throughout Switzerland. In our communication, we want to continue to challenge entrenched opinions and structures. And finally, in the second half of the year, we look forward to introducing the Polestar 3, our performance SUV.

This interview first appeared in the m&k print edition 5/2022.