Polestar Names 1st N. American Retail Partner

Volvo Cars Corp.’s Polestar electric vehicle unit has selected Groupe Park Avenue in Montreal as its first retail partner in North America.

To support the program, Hugues Bissonnette has been named Polestar’s manager for Canada. Bissonnette, who most recently led Volvo’s sales in Canada, will report to Polestar Amercas chief Gregor Hembrough.

Polestar also is planning showrooms in Toronto, Vancouver and “strategically placed” locations in the U.S. The carmaker previously said the U.S. rollout would start in five west coast cities, with current Volvo dealers getting the first opportunity on the stand-alone Polestar sites.

Groupe Park Avenue operates 18 auto dealerships, representing 12 car brands (including Volvo) and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The Polestar site in Montreal hasn’t been chosen.

At 3,200 sq ft, the so-called Polestar Space showrooms will be relatively small. Customers will be able to test drive cars at the facilities, but most of the purchase process—including vehicle subscription plans—will be handled online.

Low-volume production of the 600-hp hybrid Polar 1 sport coupe began this summer at Polestar’s new manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China. Production of the mainstream Polestar 2 midsize electric sedan (pictured) is due to start early next year at Volvo parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s Luqiao plant in China’s Zhejiang province. The factory also builds the Volvo XC40 and Lynk & Co. 01 crossovers.