Polestar’s momentum in the UK has taken a sharp turn, with registrations falling almost 50 percent year over year in August despite continued growth across the wider electric vehicle market.

The Swedish EV brand registered just 366 vehicles during the month, down 49.8 percent from the 729 recorded in August 2025. The result follows July’s 568 registrations, leaving Polestar below 1,000 units for two consecutive months.

The slowdown is particularly striking because the company began 2026 on stronger footing. Polestar registered 9,086 vehicles during the first half of the year, up 9.2 percent on the same period in 2025.

Through August, however, its advantage has narrowed to just 1.5 percent, with 10,020 registrations compared with 9,872 a year earlier.

September could prove decisive. Polestar traditionally relies heavily on quarterly plate-change cycles, and the brand would need around 2,600 registrations this month to maintain the momentum that carried it through the first half.

The challenge comes as Britain’s EV market moves in the opposite direction. Battery-electric registrations increased 27.7 percent year over year in August, accounting for 29.8 percent of new-car registrations.

Polestar is betting on its new Polestar 4 SUV to revive demand, alongside discounts on existing models. But with competitors such as BYD expanding rapidly, the brand faces growing pressure to turn its premium positioning into sustained sales.