Polestar brings China production operations to Ridgeland plant

Following two years of production in the Volvo Cars Ridgeville plant, Polestar is consolidating assembly of the Polestar 3 by bringing the model’s production operations in China to South Carolina.

The vehicle is only produced at the Ridgeville and Chengdu, China, facilities and is assembled alongside the electric Volvo EX90 SUV, according to a news release.

“The move to consolidate global Polestar 3 production in Charleston helps generate efficiencies for both companies, whilst also underscoring our confidence in the plant and the role it plays in our manufacturing footprint,” Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, said in the release. ‘The U.S. is a very important market for Volvo Cars, both to support our growth ambitions as well as a strategic production site to meet regional and export demands.”

Volvo recently announced that the South Carolina production line soon will manufacture Volvo’s XC60 mid-size SUV, followed by a new hybrid model to be announced in 2030.

The Sweden-based company has invested $1.3 billion in the Ridgeville plant throughout the past decade and now has a capacity to assemble 150,000 cars per year, the release said.  The company did not say whether the consolidation plans will require more investment or additional workers.

Volvo Cars originally announced plans for the Berkeley County plant in 2015, pledging then to invest $500 million and create 4,000 jobs by 2030.