Riverside expands in Sheffield, opening Polestar's eighth showroom

Riverside Motor Group managing director Mark Denton has celebrated a successful conclusion to three years of talks with Polestar with the opening of the EV brand’s eight UK showroom.

The £209.9 million turnover Doncaster-based Volvo franchised car retailer, ranked 81st in the AM100 2023, is the EV brand's retail partner for the new Polestar Space at Sheffield’s Meadowhall Shopping Centre which officially opened its doors to customers on June 14.

Denton, who revealed that he had helped his team made the finishing touches to the new five-car Polestar Space – the UK’s largest – ahead of a VIP opening event with 100 attendees, said: “We started talking to Polestar three years ago and discussed a few potential locations, including some at Leeds, but Meadowhall made absolute sense.

“The road network and accessibility is phenomenal, meaning it has a huge catchment area, and Meadowhall itself quotes 16 million visitors a year, so there is huge potential.

“Opening the Polestar Space is a great moment for the group. For me, I’m proud to be representing Polestar. It is a brand with really strong values and a really strong reputation for sustainability and attention to detail,” he told Tom Sharpe.

Polestar’s Riverside integration

Polestar Sheffield’s aftersales operations will be handled by the team at Riverside’s Doncaster Volvo dealership.

Riverside began delivering cars for Polestar three years ago and has a team of 20 drivers, around half of which are dedicated to vehicle deliveries and collection for the brand.

Denton told AM that Polestar’s close ties to Volvo were important.

“We’ve been a Volvo franchisee since 1982 and have four sites after adding Volvo Leeds in late 2022,” he said.

“What I quickly learnt was that the team at Polestar have the same approach to their retail partner relationships. They’re personable and will pick up the phone to you. That gave me real confidence in the brand early on.”

Polestar holds a 10-year lease at Meadowhall, with Riverside taking on a sub-lease at the site and assuming responsibility for the cost of its operations.

The facility currently counts premium high street retailers Zara and Flannels among its neighbours, but the addition of Frasers, Evans Cycles and Sports Direct nearby will soon boost footfall to the area.

A demonstrator bay – currently occupied by a fleet of five Polestar 2s – is located less than 100 yards away in a nearby car park and facilitates unaccompanied test drives.

Riverside employs 10 members of staff at Meadowhall, with manager Mike Wolanski joining from Lookers’ Polestar Space in Glasgow.

Wolanski, who also previously worked at Lookers’ Polestar Space in Manchester’s Trafford Centre, stepped into automotive retail from a role at Ted Baker.

High street allure

“The team we have recruited here are from a variety of backgrounds, but mostly retail," he told AM. “There’s clearly enthusiasm for the brand. One part-time role we advertised at Meadowhall received over 300 applications.”

Polestar UK chief executive Jonathan Goodman is excited about the growth potential of the brand brand now that its £75,900 Polestar 3 SUV and £59,990 Polestar 4 coupe-cum-SUV are now open for order, with deliveries expected to commence in August and September, respectively.

“It’s a really exciting time for the brand,” he told AM. “Over the past four years we’ve introduced over 27,000 cars to UK roads despite only having the Polestar 2 in our line-up.

“Now we have cars in the £40,000, £60,000, £70,000 and £80,000 price points and the timing of the Meadowhall opening really couldn’t be better.

“In terms of the car replacement cycle, we’ll have Polestar 2 customers coming back to us and now we have options available for them to move into. The arrival of Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 give us a real opportunity to accelerate our retention levels.”

Tariffs on Chinese-built EVs

Goodman’s interview with AM at Geely-owned Polestar’s newest UK retail space came the day after the European Commission announced its plans for tariffs of up to 48.1% on Chinese-built EVs imported to mainland Europe.

The Commission set tariff rates ranging from 17.4% to 38.1% after reviewing the findings of an antisubsidy investigation.

Geely vehicles face a new 20% tariff under the new legislation which comes into force on July 4. This will be levied on top of the existing 10% EU tariff on Chinese vehicles.

As yet, there is little clarity on whether the UK Government will choose to adopt a similar stance.

All Polestar models are currently built in China, though production of the Polestar 3 will soon begin at a site in South Carolina, USA.

Goodman insisted that applying tariffs to Chinese-built cars is “not a sensible way forward” on the road to widespread electric vehicle (EV) adoption, adding: “Geely is a privately-owned company, not state-owned.”

He suggested that it was important to “watch carefully” what was happening in the EU, but added: “Whatever the outcome, the main priority there will be looking after those people that have placed orders for cars.”