A look inside the Berkeley County factory where the Polestar 3 SUV is being produced

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Volvo’s manufacturing facility in Berkeley County is building a third line of vehicles – this time it’s the Polestar 3 SUV.

 “It is a major moment for us because it’s the first time a Polestar is being manufactured and produced in the U.S.,” said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar.

Ingenlath said Polestar – a sister company to Volvo – focuses on luxury, with an extra emphasis on technology and design. The electric Polestar 3 SUV starts at about $73,000.

About every third vehicle coming down the assembly line at the Berkeley County plant right now is a Polestar 3.

“The Polestar 3 is… I call it, the core, the heart of the company. It represents that premium, that tech-savvy premium product,” said Ingenlath.

Ingenlath said he was at the Ridgeville plant when it first opened, so he has always known the workers at the Berkeley County plant would be a perfect fit to build Polestars in the future.

“In our mix, we want to aim for 30% of the volume that we sell annually to achieve that in the U.S. market,” he said.

He said they plan to sell 50% of Polestar 3’s that are built in Berkeley County in the US, with another 50% exported to other countries.

“One important aspect of producing Polstar 3 here in Ridgeville is of course that on one hand, we serve the US market with the Polestar 3 volume, but almost the same amount of cars that we produce here, is for the US market. We actually export and bring this Polstar 3 produced here in South Carolina to the European market,” he said.

While there has been recent talk in the presidential campaign of possible tariffs to encourage building in the US, Ingenlath believes Volvo and now Polestar are well positioned for that future.

“Basically, being here now right in time with US produced car, when this is of course, from the perspective of tariffs, is a big topic.”

Ingenlath said Americans will appreciate the fact that these vehicles are being made right here by Americans.

“For us, it’s very important to deliver to the US customers a car that is manufactured here in the US,” he said.

Officials say the first Polestar 3 manufactured in Berkeley County should be available for sale as soon as next month.