Goodbye, car dealership: on-site inspection at Polestar in Vienna

Goodbye, car dealership: on-site inspection at Polestar in Vienna

When people talk about the future of the automotive trade, an Anglicism is particularly popular: “customer journey” – the customer’s journey from the first perception of the product to the purchase. And since no such linguistic flower comes alone, the “touchpoints” are thrown in straight away. A business degree with a focus on marketing takes five years, so you should have a few magic spells later on. Mean? A little, but there is no other way to explain why cars are no longer sold the way they used to be. And that now leads us to the actual topic: our mystery shopping in the Polestar Space in downtown Vienna. Is it the car dealership of the future? 

Purism instead of ostentation

Car dealership often means: glass palace, specifications for tiles, plants and pretty much everything that a customer sees. There is absolutely nothing individual about the brand house. And customers have gotten used to it: If I buy a premium car, I want to sit in a stylish leather armchair in the color Venetian dove blue gray and sip Italian capsule espresso from branded mocha cups. You won't find any of that in the Polestar Space. The showrooms at the e-car company are called Spaces. Sounds cosmopolitan, modern and not like spending money. Polestar itself writes on its website: "Goodbye, car dealership. These are unique sales environments, without sales staff and without pressure to buy." 

Zack, we're already standing at Wallnerstrasse 5 in downtown Vienna. A damn posh address for a car dealership, sorry Space. Three cars are in the showroom, perfectly illuminated from above by a huge light panel. The stars are the two Polestar 2s – in gray and white. A little in the corner is the debut, the Polestar 1, a hybrid racer with a carbon shell and a starting price of over 140,000 euros - limited, only available this year. And you don't see much else: a huge photo of an Öhlins shock absorber, a second detailed image of an oversized Brembo brake system, color: Swedish gold. Seating? Barely. Employee desk with monitor, catalogs and calculator when haggling? None. There is a table behind the cars with paint sample tiles, upholstery and belt options on it. And a huge screen in the table on which Markus – the consultant – can explain things about the car to us. 

Markus is young, iPad in hand, totally relaxed. He's not a salesman, he's a consultant. We know it from Apple and Co. The customer shouldn't have the feeling that something is being talked into them. You can feel this immediately in the conversation: There is no need assessment, no question about what you are specifically looking for or what you have done so far. Markus doesn't actually ask any questions, but he can answer everything off the cuff. Because the information about the car can only be found in the form of a few key technical data stuck to the wall using foil. You don't see prices anywhere. Certainly no actions. The longer you spend in the cool silence, the more you feel like you're in an art gallery rather than a car sales environment. 

Graduation on the web

Now that the most important questions about the car have been answered, we want to know where you can buy it. “With us you buy the cars online and can then pick them up from the Volvo dealer and have them serviced.” A damn clever answer, because it eliminates the question of price. It's on the website. And you can't negotiate with them, dust off a pair of doormats. Test drives are welcome. An online appointment fixation is enough. At least now it becomes clear: It seems as if Polestar deliberately wants to leave the “customer journey” where it largely takes place: online. The conversation never has a sales character. There is only one point where you can see a certain pull towards the conclusion, namely when it comes to signing up for the Polestar newsletter. After the most atypical car buying experience in a long time, we still wanted the business card and information about the Polestar 2 - preferably in the form of catalogs. Markus hands us a small card with a QR code on it: “Just scan it and you’ll find everything else online.” And that really says it all about the new car shopping experience. 

About Polestar:

Polestar is a joint venture between Volvo Car Cooperation and the Chinese car manufacturer Geely. Polestar is positioning itself as an independent, fully electric electric car brand, whose latest model, the Polestar 3, will be manufactured in the USA. Polestar is committed to sustainability and generally improving the mobility of tomorrow. 
www.polestar.com