Who Owns Polestar? Geely, Li Shufu and Volvo Cars Explained

Polestar is a Swedish electric car brand, but it’s controlled by China’s Geely. Geely’s founder, Li Shufu, beneficially owns about 60% or more of Polestar, counting his personal investment company, Geely’s own entities and Volvo Cars, which Geely also controls. The company is listed on Nasdaq, headquartered in Gothenburg and incorporated in England and Wales. Here’s how the ownership fits together.

Stakes are approximate and shift as Geely converts loans into shares. Published figures range from about 60% to 66% depending on whether Volvo Cars’ shares are counted with Geely’s, so check Polestar’s latest filings for exact numbers.

Who owns Polestar?

Polestar has no single traditional owner. Its shares trade on Nasdaq under the ticker PSNY, and it’s incorporated in England and Wales as Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC, with its headquarters in Gothenburg. But the listing gives a misleading impression of how widely held the company is, because most of the shares sit with Geely-linked holders.

The largest single shareholder is PSD Investment, the personal holding company of Geely founder Li Shufu, which bought a further $200 million of new Polestar shares in June 2025. Geely’s Swedish arm, Geely Sweden Holdings, is another major holder and announced in December 2025 that it would convert loans it had made to Polestar into shares.

Does Volvo own Polestar?

Not any more. Volvo Cars was Polestar’s original parent, and it has been steadily stepping back. In 2024 it distributed most of its Polestar shares to its own shareholders, leaving it with a minority stake, and later share issues and loan conversions have diluted that further.

Volvo Cars is itself about 79% owned by Geely, so the ultimate control hasn’t changed hands, but the two companies are now more separate than they were. Polestar still relies on Volvo for manufacturing, commercial operations and access to its service network.

How Polestar’s ownership has changed

• 2015: Volvo Cars buys Polestar’s performance business, which had grown out of a Swedish racing operation run by Christian Dahl.
• 2017: Volvo Cars and Geely relaunch Polestar as a standalone electric car brand.
• June 2022: Polestar lists on Nasdaq through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, raising about $890 million.
• 2024: Volvo Cars distributes most of its Polestar shares to its shareholders.
• June 2025: Li Shufu’s PSD Investment buys $200 million of new shares.
• Late 2025 to 2026: Geely converts loans into shares, further diluting Volvo Cars.

Is Polestar a Chinese company?

Both descriptions are true at once. Polestar’s headquarters, design studio and brand identity are Swedish, and the listed company is incorporated in the UK. But control sits with a Chinese parent, and a large share of its cars are built in China. Ownership and origin are different questions, which is why Polestar is often described as a Swedish brand with Chinese ownership.

Where are Polestar cars built?

Polestar has no factories of its own. It builds cars in plants operated by Volvo Cars or Geely, so the answer depends on the model:

• Polestar 2: built at the Luqiao plant in Zhejiang, China, which also builds Volvo and Lynk & Co models.
• Polestar 3: built in both Chengdu, China and Volvo’s Ridgeville plant in South Carolina, USA. Polestar announced in March 2026 that production would consolidate at Ridgeville, with Chinese output winding down by the end of 2026.
• Polestar 4: built in China, and since the second half of 2025 also in Busan, South Korea.

The bottom line

Polestar is a Swedish-designed, UK-incorporated, Nasdaq-listed brand that is controlled by Geely, and Geely’s founder now controls most of its shares. It sits alongside Lotus and Volvo Cars in Geely’s European portfolio, and it’s part of the wider story in our guide to Chinese-owned European car brands. Geely also holds a minority stake in Aston Martin, and you can read more about the group on our Geely brand page.