8:10 am, March 24, 2025
Volvo’s UK boss says that the brand will continue to look after its ‘little sister’ Polestar but insisted that support would not come at the expense of the firm’s own customers.
British Polestar owners can currently take their vehicles to be serviced at Volvo sites, with several dealerships holding franchises with both brands.
The two Swedish outfits continue to share a close relationship, under the Geely umbrella, and the subject was one of many to come up during our recent chat with Nicole Melillo Shaw at Car Dealer Live.
Asked whether she would prefer more separation between the brands, Volvo’s UK MD, promised to keep ‘looking after’ the Polestar brand.
However, she insisted that help would only last as long is it does ‘compromise’ the brand’s ability to offer ‘really robust customer service’ to its own consumers.
Speaking with host James Batchelor, Melillo Shaw said: ‘The start point with that [sharing spaces with Polestar] is making sure that we can offer a really robust customer service to our Volvo customers.
‘Of course we’ve got a little sister, who we look after, and that’s great – but it can’t be at the expense of our Volvo customers.
‘The only challenge ahead comes as we sell more and more new cars, and Polestar do the same, we need to make sure that we’re not compromising.
‘It’s manageable at the moment. Obviously it’s an EV space so that clogs up the aftersales department in a different way but for me the gateway back to getting people into the franchise and back into a Volvo is giving them a great aftersales experience so that question [of more separation from Polestar] would be answered by that being compromised.
‘That’s the bit where there would be a question mark but other than that but other than that, we have set up like that intentionally.’
‘Safety is not boring’
During a fascinating keynote interview at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Melillo Shaw was also quizzed on what the Volvo brand represents in 2025.
The MD said that the outfit is ‘proud’ of its reputation for safety as it allows the firm to build from a solid base.
‘I think probably four years ago we wanted consumers to say something else as well as safety but we’re really clear now that actually we are proud of safety and it allows us to have a starting point to then expand, she added.
‘Yes, we now have advanced technology and yes we’ve moved forwards in lots of different ways but we are anchored in safety – that is our point of difference and we are so proud of it.
‘It’s not boring and as well as everything else we have to offer, that is a start point.
‘People often say to me “I’ve always thought Volvo was a great offering and great brand but when my teenager started learning to drive, the one car I hoped they’d end up in was a Volvo” because of that proposition.’
You can read all the headlines from Car Dealer Live here.
