• Car Dealer Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
No Result
View All Result

Nissan Sunderland factory future is safe after manufacturer hails Brexit deal as 'positive' and commits investment

Stellantis: What is it? Which brands does it have? And what does it mean for customers and dealers?

Home News

Exclusive: Polestar looking at offering subscription packages to UK customers

James Batchelor by James Batchelor
January 25, 2021
in News
0

Swedish electric car brand Polestar is looking at offering subscription packages for UK customers.

Speaking to Car Dealer Live, UK CEO Jonathan Goodman said it’s an area the start-up firm is looking closely at and may offer in the near future, as it’s ‘part-and-parcel’ of how the brand ‘needs to move forwards’.

Car subscriptions allow customers to pay one monthly fee, and give the ability to opt in and opt out and change their subscription package as they please.

Sister-firm Volvo rolled out a subscription model last year and offers packages starting from £559 per month.

Jaguar Land Rover offers something similar with its Pivotal programme and guarantees customers will get a new vehicle every six months.

Drover, one of the UK’s largest car subscription providers, told Car Dealer in 2020 Q2 & Q3 were its best ever quarters as the UK went into lockdown, demonstrating the growing popularity of car subscriptions.

Should Polestar go down the subscription route, it’s likely it’ll follow Volvo’s lead and allow customers to order a car that’s in stock or spec their own online, choose their mileage allowance and wait for delivery to their home.

However, demand is currently outstripping supply for Polestar’s cars, preventing the brand from offering subscription services to customers now.

‘It’s one of the elements we are looking at introducing,’ Goodman told Car Dealer.

‘A lot of people haven’t experienced electric cars and they have lots of questions.

‘If we can offer them a subscription model that gives them total clarity – this is what you pay a month and the only additional cost is the cost of charging – they will be pleasantly surprised at home much they can save over an equivalent petrol car.

‘It’s part-and-parcel or what we have to do moving forwards, as it offers clarity and a rental solution thereby takes away concerns about residual values.’

Jonathan Goodman with the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid coupe

Goodman added: ‘We need a blend of finance offers, leasing – personal, business and business contract hire, and subscription. Ultimately, the customer decides and we’ll see how that goes.

‘As a new start-up it’s something we’re not looking at right now as demand is outstripping supply which is where you’d always want to be.’

In a wide ranging video interview, Goodman explained the rationale behind its shopping centre-based ‘Polestar Spaces’, which see non-commissioned specialists helping customers rather than actively selling.

Goodman, who’s career in the car industry spans 34 years and includes time as Peugeot’s UK managing director, said the three years he’s spent so far with Polestar have been some of the most rewarding, simply because the brand ‘does things differently’.

  • Road test: What’s the Polestar 2 actually like to drive?

‘I’ve been able to approach this new brand in a new way,’ he told Car Dealer.

‘A perfect example of how we do things differently is our retail investors don’t hold any stock – we don’t wholesale vehicles into our retailers.

‘I think the wholesaling process creates pressures on the dealer network, driven by the manufacturer, and I think that is wrong.

‘Dealers are hugely committed – you wouldn’t get many people around a manufacturer board room table who have put a million or two million pounds of their own money into a business. The retailers have, and you have to give them a level playing field to allow them to deliver what they want to deliver.

‘We’ve taken that part of the equation out and that allows the retailer to focus on the customer care. This is the excitement I have found being involved with Polestar.’

  • Join our breaking news WhatsApp group – Click here to join now
  • Car Dealer Podcast – Listen to the latest episode here
  • Car Dealer Top 100 – The most profitable car dealers in the UK here
Previous Post

Nissan Sunderland factory future is safe after manufacturer hails Brexit deal as ‘positive’ and commits investment

Next Post

Stellantis: What is it? Which brands does it have? And what does it mean for customers and dealers?

Next Post
Stellantis: What is it? Which brands does it have? And what does it mean for customers and dealers?

Stellantis: What is it? Which brands does it have? And what does it mean for customers and dealers?

Want the latest news?

Sign up to Car Dealer's daily news email updates

Subscribe
How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed
News

How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed

February 24, 2021
Used Car Awards with Mike Brewer and James Baggott graphi
News

Who won what at the Used Car Awards 2020? Mike Brewer reveals our winning car dealers

February 11, 2021
Car Dealer issue 156 front cover and Used Car Awards
Online Magazine

Out now: Car Dealer issue 156 features our Used Car Awards, H.R. Owen CEO Ken Choo and lots more

February 23, 2021
Used car market stronger than ever as August sees sales up by nearly 50 per cent for Big Motoring World
News

Opinion: Here are 10 reasons why I think there’ll be a rapid recovery in car sales when lockdown ends

February 16, 2021
Trophy Cars forecourt
News

Investigation: Meet the hyper-specialist car dealers making their money from weird and wonderful motors

February 11, 2021
Become a Car Dealer Plus member and get more out of this website including free legal advice
News

Become a Car Dealer Plus member and get more out of this website including free legal advice

January 15, 2021
Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK
Car Dealer Top 100

Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK

February 10, 2021
Bitcoin ATM terminal
News

Will car dealers in the UK accept Bitcoin for payment? Dealers speak out after Tesla plans to accept cryptocurrency 

February 18, 2021
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
Call us: 020 8125 3880

© 2020 Blackball Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Car Dealer Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards 2020
  • Used Car Awards 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100

© 2020 Blackball Media

Log In
Register
Register
Server 1