Polestar, which will open in Australia in November to establish its 18th market, is led by Australian-born managing director Samantha Johnson.

Ms Johnson was previously director of business control, financial services and digital transformation at Volvo Car Australia. She has held numerous positions in Australia and overseas including almost 10 years as director of finance and retail operations at Harley Davidson.

The other recent appointments are Jeremy Goh as head of commercial, Paul Jowett as head of business development and Jonathon Williams as head of marketing.

Samantha Johnson

Mr Goh is a senior leader with almost two decades in the automotive industry, working in sales, network, and supply chain management roles in markets including China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

He joins Polestar from Nissan Motor Company Australia, where he was the lead for residual value management and certified pre-owned vehicles at Nissan. He was also general manager of national sales and dealer network development for Infiniti.

Before joining the Nissan Alliance, Mr Goh held various roles within DaimlerChrysler and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for 13 years.

In his capacity as head of commercial operations for Polestar, he will oversee sales, customer care, supply chain logistics, service network operations and technical support.

Jeremy Goh

Mr Jowett has worked in senior management at technology brands including Apple, Samsung, and Vodafone, for the past 18 years.

He joins Polestar from Huawei where he was director of marketing for the retail team of the consumer electronics division. His new role at Polestar as head of business development will cover the company’s operator network, retail, charging solutions, financial services, digital commerce and pricing.

Mr Williams is a creative marketer with a passion for disruptive technology and worked for PayPal for four years, followed by seven years at Google, where he led key product launches for Google Ads, Google Maps and Android Pay.

He joins Polestar from travel booking technology start-up Klook, where he was marketing director for Australia and New Zealand.

Paul Jowett

Ms Johnson said: “I am delighted to announce the Australian management team for Polestar, which brings the right mix of automotive know-how and a progressive, start-up mindset to the brand.

“The team will be instrumental in overseeing the launch of Polestar and the all-electric Polestar 2 to Australian audiences from November 2021, while playing a central role in achieving our ambitious growth plans for 2022.”

Polestar is the independent Swedish premium electric performance car brand founded by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding in 2017.

Jonathon Williams

By Neil Dowling