Polestar, a Geely Group company, will make one of its models in Korea, complementing its production in Hangzhou Bay, China. Production of the Polestar 4 crossover SUV, which was unveiled in April this year, is expected to start during the second half of 2025 in Busan, South Korea.
The production will be done under contract with Renault Korea Motors (RKM) and will be for vehicles to be sold in the Korean market as well as for export to North America.
Located with direct access to exporting ports, the Busan plant has 23 years of experience in vehicle manufacturing and approximately 2,000 employees. The Busan plant aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030, and to become carbon neutral by 2040, through a combination of energy efficiency improvements and the adoption of renewable energy sources.
![Polestar 4 EV [2023]](https://www.motaauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Polestar-4-2023-1-scaled.jpg)
“Polestar 4 will be the first full battery electric vehicle produced in the Busan plant, symbolising Renault Korea Motors renewal and our ambitious vision for the future. We are very proud of this new partnership and grateful to the Polestar brand for their trust,” said Stephane Deblaise, CEO of Renault Korea Motors.
With Polestar 3 on track to start production in Chengdu, China in early 2024 and in the USA from mid-2024, the company, which makes only high-performance EVs, will have manufacturing operations in 5 factories located in 3 different countries by 2025.
The connection with Renault
The choice of RKM for Polestar production would be related to the fact that Geely and Renault jointly run the factory which started operations in 1995. However, capital ownership is held by Renault, with 19.9% by Samsung.
Additionally, Geely also have established a partnership with Renault in July this year to form a joint-venture company to develop and produce next-generation hybrid and highly efficient powertrains for the two companies as well as other carmakers.
The new company will include 17 engine plants and 5 R&D centres in 3 continents with 19,000 employees. The joint venture company aims to have an annual production capacity up to 5 million internal combustion, hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines and transmissions per year. It will supply multiple brands worldwide with a complete range of best-in-class powertrains.
