Swedish electric car brand Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC PSNY said on Monday its unit is entering a joint venture with Chinese technology company Xingji Meizu Group to develop an operating system for Polestar cars sold in China. The JV aims to strengthen Polestar’s position in the competitive Chinese market.
What Happened: While Polestar will own 49% of the JV company, Xingji will own the rest. Xingji will also be responsible for arranging future funding of the JV company beyond the initial capital.
Further, the new company will be the sole authorized Polestar sales and service entity in China. About 130 commercial staff of Polestar will be transferred to the new company.
The new operating system will be based on Xingji’s existing technology platform Flyme Auto. However, Polestar vehicles outside of China will continue to have infotainment systems powered by Google’s Android Automotive OS, the company said.
Why It Matters: Xingji was founded by Geely Holding Group GELYF GELYY Chairman Eric (Shufu) Li. Geely is also the owner of Polestar.
China is one of the fastest-growing EV markets in the world and also a market of increasing levels of integration between consumer electronics devices and vehicles, said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath.
“By partnering with a company that has a strong complementary competence to our own, we will be able to offer the locally tailored user experience that both drivers and passengers expect,” the CEO added.
Earlier this week, popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee named the Polestar as one of his favorite cars in an interview. “I really like the Polestar,” Brownlee said while adding that it is a “solid nice EV made by Volvo” with “good software.” Geely also owns Volvo.
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