Polestar sets a sales record while Germany's EV boom outgrows it
Polestar added 279 cars in nine months while Germany's electric market grew 58 percent
Polestar reports estimated retail sales of 44,790 cars for January to September 2026, up from 44,511, and 14,371 in the third quarter, its best third quarter so far. The Gothenburg brand published both figures on 8 October. Germany's registration data for the same nine months tells a less comfortable story: Polestar grew there, but far more slowly than the market it sells into.
Polestar grew 16 percent in Germany as electric registrations rose 58 percent
Polestar registered 3,805 new cars in Germany from January to September 2026, 16 percent more than the 3,271 of a year earlier, according to the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt. Over the same months, German registrations of fully electric cars rose 58 percent, from 382,202 to 604,144. Polestar sells nothing else, so its share of that market slipped from 0.9 to 0.6 percent. The brand is growing in absolute terms and shrinking in relative ones, in the country where Europe's electric boom is loudest this year.
US clearance sales added 1,194 cars to Polestar's third quarter
Polestar's third quarter grew by 149 cars worldwide, from 14,222 to 14,371, but outside the United States it fell 8 percent, from 13,256 to 12,211. The difference is 2,160 American sales against 966 a year earlier, as Polestar sells its remaining stock before the Connected Vehicle Rule ends new-car sales there from the 2027 model year. That is why Polestar now publishes its figures with and without the US. Over nine months, sales outside America slipped 0.5 percent, to 40,773.
The Polestar 4 now makes up 64 percent of Polestar's German registrations
The Polestar 4 accounts for 2,429 of Polestar's 3,805 German registrations this year, or 64 percent, and its volume is up 45 percent on the 1,679 of 2025. The rest of the range is shrinking: the Polestar 2 is almost flat at 1,157, and the Polestar 3 has fallen from 399 to 178, despite its 800-volt update this spring. The Polestar 5 grand tourer, whose customer deliveries have just begun, stands at 41 cars. In Germany, the brand's growth is in effect one model's growth.
Xpeng registered 7,023 cars in Germany, almost twice Polestar's total
Xpeng registered 7,023 new cars in Germany in the first nine months of 2026, up from 1,855 a year earlier, when it still sold fewer there than Polestar. Leapmotor reached 16,044 and BYD 42,788 over the same period. These are the Chinese brands Polestar's price list now has to answer. Polestar's head of programme management told CarExpert in Málaga this month that the brand is folding its option packs into fewer, larger bundles to stay competitive.
Polestar needs 15,329 cars in the fourth quarter to beat 2025's 60,119
Polestar sold 60,119 cars in 2025, its record year, including 15,608 in the fourth quarter. Matching that total needs 15,329 deliveries between October and December, with little American stock left to sell. The new Polestar 4 SUV is the car meant to close the gap: it starts at €57,900 in Germany, below the coupé, and its deliveries begin this quarter. CEO Michael Lohscheller calls its D-SUV segment the largest and most dynamic in Europe's premium electric market.
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A record that rests on 279 extra cars is a holding position, not a recovery, and the German data shows where the movement is. The Polestar 4 grew 45 percent there in a market that grew 58, nearly keeping pace, while the 2 and 3 went backwards and the brand's share fell by a quarter. The 4 SUV takes the one model that works and adds a rear window, more space and a lower price than the coupé, which makes it the most important car Polestar launches this year.
Polestar's full-year figure, due in early January, will land below 2025's 60,119. Reaching it needs a fourth quarter 25 percent above the third quarter's 12,211 non-American sales, and the 4 SUV has only weeks of deliveries to contribute. If German registrations for October to December take the Polestar 4 family past 1,000 cars, the SUV will be carrying Polestar into 2027 rather than rescuing 2026.
