Competing with electric vehicle industry leader Tesla TSLA for deliveries has been a major challenge for all automakers in the EV market.
Tesla led all EV makers with 435,059 vehicles delivered in the third quarter, though it missed analyst expectations of 455,000, and also produced about 430,000 in the quarter. The company has delivered about 1.3 million in the first nine months, while the company earlier projected it will deliver 1.8 million for the year.
Related: A key Volkswagen executive lays out a game plan to beat Tesla
Volkswagen reported that it had a 45% increase in deliveries in the first nine months of 2023 over the same period in the previous year for 531,500 all-electric vehicles delivered. It had 209,900 EV deliveries in the third quarter.
Ford's F EV sales in the third quarter increased by a best-ever 14.8% with 20,962 vehicles sold. Competitor General Motors GM was close behind Ford with with 20,092 deliveries in the quarter.
Stellantis STLA said it had a 37% increase in its deliveries for the third quarter. The company says it's on track to surpass 300,000 EV deliveries globally this year.
Rivian RIVN delivered 15,564 in the third quarter for a 23% increase over the previous quarter. It only produced 7,000 vehicles in 2022 and delivered about 6,500.
Polestar PSNYW delivered about 13,900 vehicles in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, or 50% year-over-year growth, and about 41,700 through the first nine months of the year for a 37% year-over-year growth, according to a company statement. The Gothenburg, Sweden, company said it expects to deliver 60,000 to 70,000 vehicles for 2023.
Polestar
Polestar revises business plan
The company on Nov. 8 revealed a revised business plan prioritizing margin progression over volume, targeting a gross margin in the high teens and total annual volume of 155,000 to 165,000 vehicles in fiscal year 2025.
To get to its ambitious margin and delivery goals, Polestar is rolling out new all-electric models over the next year and onward to provide the products necessary to generate sales.
The Tesla rival has generated all those deliveries this year with only one model, its Polestar 2 fastback, which has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $49,900, a range up to 320 miles and a charging time of 28 minutes. The vehicle accelerates from 0-60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds. Polestar 2 was unveiled in 2019 and delivered in Europe in July 2020 and the U.S. in December 2020.
Polestar 1, the company's first vehicle, was a plug-in hybrid that went into production in 2019 and was discontinued in late 2021, according to the Polestar website.
Polestar has more EV models coming soon
Polestar has high hopes of ramping up production and deliveries in the fourth quarter as it expects to begin production of its crossover SUV Polestar 4 next week and begin delivering the vehicle before the end of the year. The Polestar 3 electric SUV is expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2024.
The company has said it plans to have five EV models by 2026. After establishing a lineup of the Polestar 2, 3 and 4, it says the Polestar 5 electric four-door GT and a Polestar 6 electric roadster "are coming soon."
