Tesla drivers are ditching their cars and buying Polestars in record numbers

Latest car sales figures reveal a torrid time for Tesla, with May sales down 36 per cent on the same month last year.

Meanwhile, Tesla rival Polestar – now with a full range of three models on sale in the UK rather than just the one last year – has seen registrations jump by over 273 per cent year-on-year.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Polestar’s UK managing director Matt Galvin said “we’re getting a lot of Tesla drivers coming into our Polestar showrooms to drive our product and we're converting them at a fairly high rate as well.

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“I don’t know whether that's because of the Elon factor or what, but I think we're just a very attractive car brand right now.”

Reports are rife of Tesla buyers and owners turning away from the EV brand because of controversy surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk, described by former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer as “a bit of brand damage.”

However, Polestar’s Galvin also thinks it could be because of owners’ tiring of their Teslas. “Tesla has been around a long time, hasn't it? I think people have had maybe one or two of those products already, and there's something new and alternative on the scene with Polestar for them. I'm really pleased that they're considering it and, in many cases, buying it,” said Galvin.

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Tesla has reacted to the drop in sales in May pointing out that April and May fell between the run-out of the old Tesla Model Y, its biggest seller, and the ramp up of deliveries of the new model. Tesla is expecting a bumper month in June with deliveries of the new Model Y coming on stream and an expected year-on-year growth in registrations.

Electric-only brand Polestar is owned by Chinese car giant Geely and headquartered in Sweden alongside other Geely brand, Volvo. It currently sells the Chinese-built Polestar 2, 3 and 4 models, having launched the brand in the UK in 2021.

May saw Polestar register 1,174 new cars, with the new Polestar 4 its most popular car. Although a massive increase on 2024’s figures, that’s still some way behind the more established Tesla, which registered 2,016 cars in May, a drop from the 3.152 last May.

Tesla is focusing on the Model 3 and Model Y in the UK, having dropped the Model S and Model X. Tesla has not committed to a timeframe for future models – which include a possibly fully-self driving car – joining the line-up.

Meanwhile, Polestar will add the British-engineered, Chinese built Polestar 5 luxury saloon to its line-up in 2026, while its first European-built car, the Polestar 7, is expected to launch in 2027.