Volvo Cars has announced that its performance car arm, Polestar, will become a separately-branded car company.

In order to drive the development of the brand, Volvo has also announced that senior vice president design, Thomas Ingenlath, will now become chief executive officer at Polestar.

Volvo’s senior vice president of corporate communication will also be moving to Polestar as its chief operating officer.

Volvo Car’s president and chief executive Håkan Samuelsson said: “With 25 years of commercial experience in the automotive industry, Jonathan is ideally placed to provide operational experience alongside Thomas’s vision, building on the experienced management team that will drive the Polestar brand forwards”

Volvo Cars acquired 100% of Polestar Performance in July 2015, having worked together in motorsport since 1996.

Polestar will offer Polestar branded cars that will no longer carry a Volvo logo, as well as optimisation packages for Volvo’s range of cars under the Polestar Engineered brand. 

Polestar will enjoy specific technological and engineering synergies with Volvo Cars and benefit from significant economies of scale as a result of its connection to Volvo.

These synergies will allow it to design, develop and build world beating electrified high performance cars. 

Samuelsson said: “Polestar will be a credible competitor in the emerging global market for high performance electrified cars. With Polestar, we are able to offer electrified cars to the world’s most demanding, progressive drivers in all market segments.” 

Polestar will make further announcements about its products, industrialization and commercial plans in the autumn.