Polestar 2 reaches 100,000 unit milestone

Polestar has reached a key milestone by building 100,000 units of the Polestar 2, its signature full-electric model.

The production milestone comes two and a half years after production of the five-door model started at major shareholder Volvo Cars' Taizhou plant in Luqiao, China.

The 100,000th Polestar 2 is destined for Ireland, one of the latest of Polestar's 27 global markets.

"It's an amazing achievement -- especially given we launched the Polestar 2 during the pandemic," Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said in a statement.

In Europe, the Polestar 2 was the No. 5-selling midsize premium car, ahead of rivals such as the full-electric BMW i4 and combustion-powered Audi A5. Through nine months the fastback's volume is up 63 percent to 17,994.

That volume also made it Europe's fifth-ranked premium EV during the period, ahead of the Audi Q4 E-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQA, and its platform mate, the battery-powered version of the Volvo XC40, according to figures from market researcher Dataforce.

Demand for the Polestar 2 has the automaker projecting that it will deliver 50,000 cars worldwide in 2022.

The brand's portfolio will grow next year to include its first SUV, the Polestar 3, which will join models such as the premium large SUV segment-leading BMW X5 and the German automaker's new full-electric entrant, the iX.

Polestar aims to sell 67,000 Polestar 3s globally by 2024, according to the packet it put together for Wall Street ahead of its listing on the Nasdaq in June.

Polestar aims to boost global sales to 290,000 car by 2025.

Polestar posted a third-quarter operating loss of $196.4 million, down from $292.9 million a year ago, while revenue rose to $435.4 million from $212.9 million.