Polestar has plans to create a dealer network of 80 franchised sites by the end of 2020 as part of plans to bring the electrified performance car brand to market via an innovative subscription platform.

The Swedish performance car brand, which is engineered by Volvo on platforms familiar to the two brands, was at the Geneva Motor Show displaying its first, low-volume Polestar 1 model yesterday.

That car will reach UK shores next year, a spokesman for the brand told AM, but the need to create sales outlets to support the launch of two further models looks set to see a fast acceleration of the Geely-owned operation’s physical footprint.

“The Polestar one will reach the first UK customers in Q2 of next year,” the spokesman said.

He added: “After that there is a need to roll out a UK dealer network and there are plans to have 80 physical dealership sites globally by the end of 2020.

“These cars will not be sold in Volvo dealerships.”

AM understand that existing Volvo retailers will be given first refusal on the Polestar franchised sites, however.

On stand at Geneva was Polestar’s only current model, the Polestar 1.

Thomas Ingenlath, chief executive officer of Polestar (pictured, yesterday), said: “To date, we have received interest from over 6,000 potential customers wanting the Polestar 1 – a number which began gathering momentum from the moment the car was revealed.

“With our current plans to produce 500 cars per year, it’s possible that we have exceeded our production potential in these early stages.

“This positive reception to Polestar 1 really encourages us that our ‘Pure, Progressive, Performance’ brand proposition resonates very well with customers.”

The Polestar 1 is an Electric Performance Hybrid 2+2 GT coupé which produces 600PS and 1,000Nm of torque, as well as 150 km of pure electric driving range.

The Electric Performance Hybrid powertrain features an internal combustion engine powering the front wheels, while a double electric rear axle drive system powers the rear wheels from a total of 34 kWh of battery power.

Polestar will open pre-orders for the Polestar 1 on March 13 with a request to the list of potential customers to pay a fully-refundable deposit of €2,500.

Pre-orders will open in the six initial launch markets announced in January, including China, the United States, Sweden, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.

An additional 12 new markets for Polestar 1 have been added and will open for pre-orders simultaneously, including the UK.

The Polestar consumer experience is based on a new subscription model, where customers will be able to subscribe to their Polestar car for two or three years.

Linked to a host of connected and on-demand benefits like pick-up and delivery servicing, Polestar has said that the no-deposit, all-inclusive subscription model was designed to take the traditional hassle out of vehicle ownership with one monthly fee that includes sundries like insurance and maintenance, and allows the customer to focus on the enjoyment of driving.

Customers will also be able to purchase the Polestar 1 outright if desired.