Polestar 3 supply gap leaves 48 Australian orders waiting as US changeover bites

Changeover leaves orders unfilled

Polestar Australia is sitting on 48 customer orders for the Polestar 3 that it cannot fill, according to managing director Scott Maynard in an interview published by NRMA's Open Road. Maynard attributed the gap to a production changeover, saying the brand had lost a few weeks of output in the cut-over. He added that it takes about six to eight weeks to bring a Polestar 3 to Australia from the United States, where the model is now built. ¹

The Polestar 3 was previously built in both China and the United States. In March 2026, Polestar and Volvo announced plans to consolidate production of the SUV at Volvo's South Carolina plant, a move the companies said would improve efficiency and lower costs. Open Road reports that the changeover tied to this transition is behind the current Australian supply interruption, and that Polestar says local sales are down on last year partly as a result. ¹

What the MY27 update brings

Chasing Cars reported in January 2026 that Polestar 3 stock had effectively run out in Australia, with the SUV entering a local hiatus between the 2025 and 2027 model years before returning in the second half of 2026 in MY27 form. The publication detailed major mechanical and software changes for the updated car, including a shift from a 400- to an 800-volt electrical architecture, enabling faster DC charging, and a new in-house-developed rear motor. ²

According to Chasing Cars, the MY27 lineup keeps three variants under simplified names: Rear Motor, Dual Motor and Performance. Power rises across the range to 245kW/480Nm, 400kW/740Nm and 500kW/870Nm respectively. Peak DC charging on compatible chargers is 310kW for the Rear Motor and 350kW for the all-wheel drive grades, with a best-case 10 to 80 per cent charge time of 22 minutes; AC charging remains 11kW. Global Polestar chief executive Michael Lohscheller described the MY27 updates as so extensive it is like an entirely new car, as quoted by Chasing Cars. ²

Chasing Cars also detailed the battery changes: the Rear Motor's usable capacity drops from 107kWh to a smaller, lighter 88kWh CATL pack, cutting its headline WLTP range from 706km to 604km, while the Dual Motor and Performance share a new 106kWh (usable) CATL pack, making the Dual Motor the longest-range trim at 635km WLTP. All grades gain a new steering tune, updated anti-roll bars and a more powerful NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin processor, which Polestar will retrofit free to existing owners. It remains to be seen, the publication noted, whether the 800-volt Polestar 3 will be speed-limited at more common 400-volt chargers like the Geely-built Zeekr 7X. ²

For buyers weighing equipment, Chasing Cars reported small changes to the options structure: adaptive air suspension becomes standard only on the Performance grade and cost-optional on the Dual Motor, a new Prime pack combines the frequently ordered Pilot, Plus and Climate packs, and standard seat upholstery switches to recycled MicroTech fabric with nappa leather remaining a costly option. Local pricing and a firmer release date for the MY27 car are yet to be announced, according to the publication. ²

Award standing and pricing stance

The outgoing Polestar 3 carries independent recognition into the hiatus: Chasing Cars describes it as the reigning Chasing Cars Luxury Vehicle of the Year, citing its premium interior and remarkably crisp driving dynamics. The accolade was awarded by Chasing Cars, an Australian publication that states its reviews are independent and not funded by manufacturers. ²

Polestar Australia managing director Scott Maynard told Chasing Cars in January that he intends to hold firm on the Polestar 3's premium pricing, which sat between $116,754 and $154,454 before on-road costs for the outgoing model, above the luxury car tax threshold. "Polestar 3 will maintain a similar price position to where it is now, and [will] hold a similar market position. It is a really high-quality product that is understandably expensive to produce," he said. Executives acknowledged to Chasing Cars that holding pricing near those levels will keep a lid on sales, in a market where demand for EVs priced above the LCT threshold of $91,387 is weak. ²

Chasing Cars noted that in 2025 Polestar delivered 332 examples of the Polestar 3 in Australia, close to the BMW iX (417) but trailing the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV (961), and that discounting campaigns had regularly been used to underpin local demand. Maynard told the publication the brand wants to move away from that strategy and instead hold and maintain a higher price on a realistic volume plan. ²

The move away from discounting also shapes the Polestar 2 run-out. Maynard told Open Road that Polestar Australia has received its last batch of the current Polestar 2 and plans a measured run-out rather than deep discounting to protect the model's resale value. Open Road reports Australian sales of the Polestar 2 fell 48.9 per cent in 2025 to 746 vehicles, and that in September 2026 it recorded 76 deliveries against 114 for the Polestar 4. ¹

Product pipeline and market context

Open Road reports that Polestar plans to show more of the next-generation Polestar 2 early next year, with the Australian arrival expected late in 2027. Maynard told the publication that, from what he has seen, the new car will maintain a real performance bias that he believes will resonate with Australian buyers. He did not discuss its price or specifications. GoAuto, reporting in August 2026, similarly stated the new-generation Polestar 2 will receive its global reveal in early 2027 with an Australian arrival forecast for later that year. ¹³

The broader lineup is expanding. GoAuto reports the Polestar 5 four-door grand tourer was due in Australian showrooms around September/October 2026, the Polestar 4 SUV toward the end of 2026, and the Polestar 7 compact SUV, debuting globally in 2027, would not reach Australia until sometime in 2028. Maynard told GoAuto the multi-market production footprint — models built in China, the US and South Korea, with the Polestar 7 due to be produced in Europe — gives the company options on logistics, factory efficiency and tariffs. ¹³

Australia itself has contributed to Polestar's global development work. According to Open Road, the incoming Polestar 5 leans on Australian know-how and environment, with its chassis tuning and heat testing in South Australia set to inform the global model, while local ADAS testing has checked the car's response to Australian road signs and lane markings. ¹

Competition has intensified. CarExpert reported in May 2026 that Polestar sales were up 18.4 per cent for the year to April, with 499 Polestar 4s, 182 Polestar 2s and just 19 Polestar 3s delivered to that point, while Geely stablemate Zeekr had notched 2698 sales of its 7X mid-size SUV, which opens at $57,900 before on-road costs. Maynard told CarExpert there was room for both brands to grow and that Polestar occupies a higher, more premium market position. ⁴

Privacy scrutiny and data handling

Alongside the supply update, Maynard addressed connected-car privacy in the Open Road interview, saying Polestar wants Australian privacy laws updated to cover how vehicles collect data. He said Polestar applies strict European GDPR policies to all its vehicles, and that owners can disable the cabin driver-monitoring camera, which he said is then locked off. "The car provides them with the ability to more closely customise exactly what they want the vehicle to know about them, and they have the assurance that the car is not transmitting their data out and not accepting a feed in," he told Open Road. ¹

A Polestar spokesperson confirmed to Open Road that the company holds data in Australia and primarily on servers located in the UK and EU, as well as in the US where required for aspects such as connected service delivery. Polestar's published Australian Car Privacy Note states it may disclose personal information to overseas recipients in Sweden, Germany, Ireland, the UK and the US, and treats Google Automotive Services separately, naming Google as the data controller for those services. ¹

Open Road notes the comments come amid wider scrutiny of connected-car privacy following the ABC Four Corners investigation into the BYD Shark 6. The publication reported that it had reached out to Polestar for clarification on the privacy notice and would update its article if needed, leaving that discrepancy unresolved at the time of publication. ¹