► Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath resigns
► Founder makes way in change of leadership
► New CEO is Michael Lohscheller, ex-Opel
The CEO and founder of Polestar Thomas Ingenlath has quit unexpectedly after seven years in charge, marking a major shift in the leadership of the Swedish electric car specialist. He will be replaced on 1 October 2024 by Michael Lohscheller, an industry veteran and former leader of Vauxhall/Opel and Vinfast.
Ingenlath was previously design chief at Volvo Cars and took the unusual step of adopting the chief executive role of Polestar, a brand which was resolutely design-led from its inception as it launched in 2017 as Europe’s answer to Tesla with the popular Polestar 2. The change in leadership reflects how Polestar is now entering a scale-up chapter, as it attempts to roll out a whole range of EVs to expand its footprint with the Polestar 3, Polestar 4 and Polestar 5 all waiting in the wings.
Lohscheller isn’t the only new arrival on the executive board announced today: there is also a new chairman, Winfried Vahland who was previously the CEO of Skoda.
Who is new Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller?
Lohscheller started in finance positions at Mitsubishi and Volkswagen and has worked in Europe and the United States. After eight years at VW, he joined Opel in 2012 as chief financial officer, before rising through the ranks to become CEO in 2017.
After four years steering Opel through change and Covid, Lohscheller had a short stint leading Vinfast in Vietnam before jumping ship to Nikola in Phoenix, US. Polestar is therefore the fourth global car maker he’s led as CEO in just four years and shareholders must be hoping this is one role he holds down for longer to make an impact.
‘I am honored to join Polestar at such an exciting time in the company’s history,’ he said. ‘Polestar has already established itself as one of the most desirable and innovative brands in the electric vehicle space, and I look forward to working with the talented team to build on this strong foundation and accelerate our development.’
What’s his reputation?
Lohscheller is a hardcore numbers man and industry watchers are already reflecting that this is exactly the kind of leadership Polestar needs right now, as the company seeks to expand its range and grow sales from the modest 55,000 units delivered in 2023.
Ingenlath was a creative who birthed Polestar and established a strong identity – in its cars’ design impact, but also the corporate identity and details such as the Polestar typeface which is rigorously applied across every touchpoint of the brand.
However, Polestar has endured a turbulent year since it was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US. Its shares have slumped, amid the global slowdown in EV take-up and parent company Volvo revealed in February 2024 that it intended to stop funding Polestar, forcing the spin-off business to stand on its own two feet.
Thomas Ingenlath on his reign at Polestar
‘I am very proud of what we’ve achieved together in the last seven years,’ said Ingenlath.
‘We had the vision of an electric premium brand which puts performance and design at its core. And we made it, the dream became reality: Polestar is the only true global premium electric brand, we just launched the Polestar 3 and 4, we are producing on two continents – thank you to everybody who contributed so far on this journey, it was a lifetime experience to build up this brand with you all. I wish Michael and the team the best for the next chapter of Polestar.’