The Polestar 4’s Most Controversial Feature Is Actually A Hit Among Customers

• The Polestar 4 is a direct rival to the Tesla Model Y.
• To set itself apart from the competition, the Polestar 4 doesn’t have a rear window.
• Despite the controversy surrounding this design-related decision, Polestar’s boss says customers like the feature.

Polarizing. That’s how I would describe the automotive media’s reaction to the Polestar 4’s lack of a rear window. The Chinese-built electric crossover that was tossed in the ring with the ever-popular Tesla Model Y had to stand out from the crowd to have a chance at success.

But the decision to sell a car without a rear window in such a competitive segment didn’t sit well with some journalists, including our own Kevin Williams, who said that maneuvering the car around felt frustrating at times.

That said, a car company exists to make money, and as long as customers are happy, the lights stay on and the assembly line keeps rolling. That’s exactly what happened at Polestar, and it’s precisely due to its most controversial feature.

Polestar’s CEO, Michael Lohscheller, recently went on record for Autocar, saying that the majority of Polestar 4 customers actually like the digital rearview mirror. “80% of the customers get used to it very quickly, and then they like it,” Lohscheller said. “But I will say there are also people who don’t like it.”

The company’s head honcho didn’t beat around the bush, acknowledging that the car is polarizing, which sometimes turns out to be very good. “Everybody has a ‘kind of alright’ car, but you want a very specific car,” the CEO added. “We don’t want a car where everybody says, ‘Well, I kind of like it’. No, you have to love it or not.”

Sales-wise, the bet seems to have paid off, too. In the first half of the year, Polestar’s global retail sales increased by an impressive 51.1% over the same period last year, reaching 30,289 units. That said, last year was a bit of a disappointment, with just 20,047 cars sold worldwide.

The Polestar 4 is positioned between the entry-level Polestar 2 sedan and the larger Polestar 3. That said, the Polestar 2 has been discontinued in the United States, leaving just the two crossovers to convince customers that the Sino-Swedish automaker is more than just a Volvo spinoff.