The Electric Vehicle Council lobby group has appointed Samantha Johnson as interim CEO, following her exit from her position as chief executive of the Australian arm of the Chinese-Swedish brand Polestar. hard.
Ms Johnson succeeds Electric Vehicle Council founder Behyad Jafari as interim head of the lobby group after he spent eight years in the top job – during which time electric vehicle sales (EV) has grown to 8% of the Australian new car market.
Polestar is one of dozens of auto manufacturers and distributors that are members of the Electric Vehicle Council, with the remaining supporters including energy companies, EV charger suppliers and related businesses. mandarin.
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North Star 2
A permanent successor to Ms Johnson has yet to be named, with interim replacement Jeremy Goh thanking the former Polestar Australia chief executive.
“Samantha has played a key role in Polestar’s success in Australia since joining the brand in 2021 from Volvo Cars to oversee the initial launch phase, establish the brand’s Australian operations and place set a roadmap for Polestar’s future success.
“We thank Samantha for her contribution and wish her all the best for the new chapter.”
Polestar is no longer a member of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), having quit the lobby group earlier this year over its stance on the upcoming New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) .
Ms Johnson’s appointment to the lobby group position comes shortly after monthly electric vehicle sales in Australia fell for the first time since the end of 2020 (with sales of 6294 units in April), but also within Polestar is facing difficulties at home and abroad.
From January to April 2024, 448 North Star 2s were sold in Australia, down from 670 electric vehicles delivered in the same period last year.
While it’s new North Star 4 SUVs do not Available in showrooms until AugustEarlier this month the price of the Polestar 2 was Up to $15,000 off until June 9.
Polestar’s struggles are not limited to Australia.
Last weekPolestar announced that it has been notified by Nasdaq that it has 60 days to submit a compliance plan after failing to timely file both its full-year 2023 and first-quarter 2024 financial statements.
The 2023 financial statements were originally scheduled to be filed at the end of February, but this deadline was extended to the end of April. Neither of these deadlines was met.
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North Star 4
The announcement comes after Polestar said in January that will lay off 450 employeesabout 15% of its workforce, in an effort to reduce external spending and get closer to break-even.
In February, former parent company Volvo sold one 30% stake in Polestar to its own parent company, Chinese car giant Geely, which is valued at 9.5 billion Swedish krona (A$1.4 billion).
While Polestar received US$950 million (A$1.46 billion) in funding from a consortium of 12 global banks at the end of FebruaryHowever, this investment did not reach the USD 1.3 billion (USD 2 billion) level of external funding. Polestar previously said it would need to break even by 2025.
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