Polestar further strengthens management team – appoints new CFO and new CTO

Polestar announces the appointment of Johan Malmqvist as Chief Financial Officer and Jörg Brandscheid as Chief Technology Officer (Research and Development).

Johan Malmqvist is a highly experienced finance executive who brings more than 20 years’ international experience across multiple sectors. Most recently Johan held the position of CFO at Dole Food Company, which successfully executed a merger and IPO with Total Produce this summer. Johan will replace Ian Zhang, who will remain on the Polestar management team with a focus on activities in the Asia Pacific region.

Jörg Brandscheid has almost 30 years of automotive experience and has held executive R&D roles across a range of technical areas and companies. Jörg joins Polestar from Hella APAC where he was Executive Vice President, Electronics. Jörg replaces Hans Pehrson, who will take on the challenge of driving the Polestar 0 project – the brand’s moonshot goal of creating a climate neutral car by 2030.

Polestar CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, says: “Investing heavily in our technical competence especially in software development will boost our position and raise our profile as an EV company. Jörg will grow our R&D capacity and capabilities, increasing our core competencies in software and electric vehicle technology. Johan’s business-oriented approach will be invaluable as we accelerate our growth and operations.

“I want to thank Ian and Hans for their contributions and look forward to continue working together as we grow the brand.”

Johan will join Polestar in September; Jörg will join the team in October.

About Polestar

Polestar is the independent Swedish premium electric performance car brand founded by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding. Established in 2017, Polestar enjoys specific technological and engineering synergies with Volvo Cars and benefits from significant economies of scale as a result. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and its vehicles are available and on the road in thirteen global markets across Europe, North America and China. In 2021, Polestar is expanding into five new markets in the Asia Pacific region.

Polestar produces two electric performance cars. The Polestar 1 is a low-volume electric performance hybrid GT with a carbon fibre body, 609 hp, 1,000 Nm and an electric-only range of 124 km (WLTP) – the longest of any hybrid car in the world. The Polestar 2 electric performance fastback is the company’s first fully electric, high volume car. The Polestar 2 model range includes three variants with a combination of long- and standard range batteries as large as 78 kWh, and dual- and single motor powertrains with as much as 300 kW / 408 hp and 660 Nm.

In the future, the Polestar 3 electric performance SUV will join the portfolio, as well as the Precept – a design study vehicle released in 2020 that is slated for future production. Precept showcases the brand’s future vision in terms of sustainability, digital technology and design. In April 2021, Polestar announced a moonshot goal of creating a truly climate-neutral car by 2030 without carbon offsetting through tree-planting.