Sweden-based electric carmaker Polestar has taken advantage of the growing antipathy towards American competitor Tesla, with an offer to save a further $US5,000 on the lease of a Polestar 3 if the customer could prove they owned a Tesla.
Polestar, makers of the Polestar 2 fastback, and the newly released Polestar 3 luxury SUV, and the Polestar 4 SUV coupé, announced last week it would seek to woo Tesla customers who have grown dissatisfied with the company following CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly divisive politics.
In a promotion which ran from February 21 to March 2, the company offered a $US5,000 “Polestar Conquest Bonus” towards the lease of a new Polestar 3 in the United States.
When combined with the company’s existing Polestar Clean Vehicle Incentive, which takes $US15,000 off the lease price of a Polestar 3, Tesla owners looking to switch sides were able to save $US20,000.
And, according to Polestar’s newly minted head of US sales, Jordan Hofmann, the company “saw some of the highest order days for Polestar 3” and that “the response to our Tesla Conquest Offer has been incredible.”
Soured Tesla owners looking to take advantage of the Polestar Conquest Bonus had only to provide evidence that they own or lease a Tesla vehicle.
Given the increasing frustration with Tesla – demonstrated most vividly this past weekend at dozens of protests at Tesla showrooms across the United States – it would not be a surprise to see more efforts from electric carmakers looking to reel in Tesla owners.
Indeed, in Germany, two big companies – an energy utility and a leading drugstore chain – have announced they will dump Tesla EVs and seek electric cars from other brands as a result of Musk’s support of the far right AfD party in the recent German elections.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.