Polestar, the electric performance brand, today opens its first production facility, a key milestone for the rapidly growing car company. Polestar also announces its World Manufacturing Identifier, which officiates the brand as a standalone car company.

The new Polestar Production Centre in Chengdu, China, sets a new industry benchmark in electric vehicle manufacture and will produce the Polestar 1 – an exclusive, carbon fibre-bodied Electric Performance Hybrid. The facility, which has been completed on schedule, will produce vehicles for both China and global export markets with first customer deliveries expected before the end of 2019.

The Polestar 1, which boasts 600 hp and 1,000 Nm of torque, becomes the most premium new energy vehicle to be manufactured in China, the world’s largest EV market. The inauguration underlines China’s maturing industrialisation, an improving reputation for quality manufacturing, and, crucially, access to the right skills.

Premium craftsmanship and the integration of high-tech digital technology come together in producing the Polestar 1. The process is overseen by highly trained quality control auditors whom, with a minimum of 10 years of experience, apply some of the strictest monitoring and assessment procedures in the industry.