Volvo has completed a 100 per cent takeover of the tuning company Polestar, with a view to selling more performance-focused cars in the future.
Polestar has been working with Volvo in motor sport since 1996. In more recent years, the two companies, both based in Sweden, have jointly developed performance derivatives of existing Volvo road cars.
Nowadays, aftermarket performance derivatives of Volvos include both the S60 Polestar saloon and the V60 Polestar estate. The latter model rivals the likes of the Audi RS4 Avant and Mercedes C 63 AMG estate.
Volvo anticipates it will sell around 750 Polestar models by the end of this year. Following the takeover of the performance division, the Swedish manufacturer is now planning to increase sales of such models to between 1,000 and 1,500 units annually.
To achieve double the sales projected for this year, Volvo aims to enhance the Polestar performance kits already available through their dealerships by applying their expertise on plug-in hybrid technology.
Volvo is already the largest manufacturer of Plug-in hybrids in Europe and recently revealed a concept for a 2.0-litre engine that features two turbocharges and an electric turbo compressor, resulting in an output of just over 440bhp.
With technology like this, Volvo will be looking to make Polestar a well-established performance brand that can take on the likes of BMW M and Mercedes AMG.
In related news, Volvo has also confirmed that the Polestar racing team, which competes in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC), will be renamed but continue to be run by Polestar’s previous owner, Christian Dahl.
