Polestar opens first permanent experience centre in Melbourne, Sydney set to follow

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Polestar Australia will build several experience centres, referred to as ‘spaces’, across Australia, with the first store to open in the summer of 2022 in Melbourne’s Chadstone shopping centre. 

These ‘spaces’ have been designed to work in conjunction with the brand’s digital-first retail model but still allowing customers to experience and test drive Polestar vehicles in person. 

Since its launch in Australia in 2021, Polestar has been using non-permanent travelling ‘pop-up’ experience centres for test drives, however this will soon change. 

The Polestar space will be located on the lower ground level of Chadstone shopping centre and will be open seven days a week for those interested. 

Chasing Cars understands that a second ‘space’ will open in the Sydney CBD in the near future. 

Polestar currently sells the Polestar 2 electric liftback and has most recently revealed its first electric SUV, the Polestar 3, that is due in Australia in 2023 with up to 610km of range (WLTP) and dual-motor all-wheel drive. 

What is a Polestar Space?

In classic Swedish fashion, Polestar will incorporate a minimalist design language for their spaces, which are essentially small showrooms rather than large-scale dealerships. 

Polestar specialists will be on hand to help guide potential customers through the experience without the hassling of a commission-driven car dealership. 

Much like Tesla, Polestar models are able to be purchased online directly through the website rather than a more traditional sales process at a dealership. 

This also means that price negotiation experienced in a traditional dealership is not present, with fixed prices removing that factor.

Car manufacturers moving to a digital sales model 

Polestar joins a growing number of manufacturers that are moving away from the traditional dealership model and are instead going for fixed-price digital experiences. 

Tesla was one of the first to allow vehicles to be purchased completely online and, in a very similar situation to Polestar, did not initially sell cars through physical stores. 

Now, Tesla has a sales and service hub in almost every state in Australia, however the purchase experience has removed the need for a salesperson and can simply be done with the click of a button. 

But Tesla and Polestar are not the only manufacturers to allow customers to buy from the comfort of their home. 

Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru and Volkswagen also allow potential buyers to order their car online rather than going into a dealership. 

Several companies including Honda and Mercedes-Benz have also adopted fixed pricing for new cars rather than negotiable prices used in the past.