Good news for Polestar EV owners

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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{{ Polestar wants to avoid seeing the market flooded with supply of cheaper vehicles bearing its badge, an eventuality it has now avoided with a new relationship with Hertz. To that end, Ingenlath says his company has agreed to waive Hertz’s purchase agreement—which so far has seen 20,000 EVs sold between 2022 and 2023—in return for the rental group’s promise not to sell Polestar vehicles too quickly or cheaply.

Hertz has agreed to “keep the cars longer than a year, we work with them, and we have the right to first refusal whenever they want to take them out of the fleet,” Ingenlath said.

This would mean that instead of Hertz selling the cars independently, thus setting its own prices, Polestar could take the vehicles back in order to keep a floor in place for price tags.}}

Polestar’s CEO has identified a major flaw in the EV market—and it’s bad news for customers who have already bought in (msn.com)

I guess I’ll cross a used Polestar off my list of potential buying opportunities.

intercst

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If used Polestars from Hertz were only competing with other used Polestars, then this would be possible. But if, as in the real world, used Polestars are competing with all sorts of used EVs, it isn’t really possible. If a used Tesla Model 3 is selling for $25,000 and a comparable used Polestar is selling for $35,000, very few people would choose the Polestar. Very few. Especially considering that the Model 3 is a better car.

This is also why so many of those new Nissan Leafs with $39,000 price tags, and new Nissan Ariyas with $66,000 price tags are sitting on dealer lots. A Tesla model 3 is far better than a Nissan Leaf, and a Tesla model Y is far better than a Nissan Ariya, and if they are also cheaper, well, your cars are going to sit on the lot for longer.

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They do say resale value is part of the EV problem. The resale value is part of the sophisticated buyers decision. Higher resale make use for the life of the vehicle more economical.

Falling prices of new EVs and sales by Hertz are hurting the market making some reluctant to buy. Another factor favoring hybrids. Better resale value.

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It works if you have your heart set on a Polestar and don’t do any comparison shopping. {{ LOL }}

intercst

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Yep. There are lots of “Honda people” out there. There are a heck of a lot of “Toyota people” out there. There are some “Subaru people” out there (including a close family member that bought their first Subaru in 1985 and hasn’t bought any other brand since then). Lately there are some “Tesla people” out there. All those “people” tend to buy only their preferred brand, and tend to keep buying only their preferred brand (unless they get pi$$ed off somehow). There are still a lot of “buy American” people out there, but there used to be a heck of a lot more of them, until the American carmakers pi$$ed so many of them off by providing ridiculously low quality (as Ford did to me in 1985, that was my last American car until I bought my Tesla a few years ago).

But there aren’t many “Polestar people” out there yet.

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I don’t see this as an action to protect the used Polestar market. I see this as an action to protect the new Polestar market.

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The same applies to the new Polestar market. New Polestars aren’t primarily competing with used Polestars, they are competing with other EVs. If a new Polestar is $55,000 and a comparable EV (let’s say a Tesla model 3) is $45,000, then they are going to sell a lot fewer of them regardless of what the price of used Polestars happen to be at the time.

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While they are competing with other EVs, including used EVs, Polestar has no control over their pricing. What they are attempting to do and control the pricing of a segment that would definitely cannibalize their own sales.

There are those that have an aversion for certain car companies so it may not matter how cheap their used or new vehicles are by comparison.