America Banned Polestar, Now The Lawsuits Are Starting

Nearly two months ago, Polestar announced that it’s been banned from selling new cars in America from the 2027 model year onwards. This news came shortly after Volvo was granted an exemption under the ICTS Connected Vehicles Rule, and it came as a bit of a shock. Polestar makes cars in America; why pull the rug out from under the brand? Understandably, this has left some dealers unhappy. The first reported lawsuit has officially rolled in, and it’s looking like it’s going to be a messy one.

Meanwhile, Lincoln has an end date for the American-spec made-in-China Nautilus, we might now know when Porsche Taycan production wraps up, and the Rivian R1S gets a welcome addition. All this in The Morning Dump.

More Problems For Polestar

If anything was certain following Polestar being banned in America, it’s that dealers were going to be furious. As Automotive News reports, one New Jersey Polestar franchise holder, Prestige Imports, has filed suit against the brand, claiming the lack of new 2027 model-year cars to sell is a violation of New Jersey’s Franchise Practices Act.

The suit follows Polestar’s June 25 announcement that the Commerce Department had denied its request for authorization to sell 2027 models and beyond. Two weeks later, according to the complaint, Polestar sent Prestige a formal “force majeure” letter declaring the restriction outside its control. Prestige argued the letter constitutes a constructive termination of its franchise. It says the move is unlawful because Polestar failed to provide the required 60-day notice and offered no “good cause.”

Is being banned by the United States government not a valid reason for not sending dealerships 2027 models? As things stand, even if 2027 model-year Polestar vehicles made it to America, they couldn’t legally be sold by dealers anyway. You can blame the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) for that roadblock. It’s worth noting that a significant part of this lawsuit hinges on statements made by former car dealer, current U.S. Senator, and person who “shredded documents as he faced a lawsuit accusing him of wage theft“, Bernie Moreno.

“Polestar was screwed by Polestar. It wasn’t screwed by the U.S. government,” Moreno, an Ohio Republican, told CBT News in July. “Volvo was given a list of items that they needed to follow in order to comply,” he said. “It was a very exhaustive and tough list that Volvo had to follow. Volvo chose to follow it.” Polestar, on the other hand, used the restrictions as “a convenient excuse” after losing $30,000 to $35,000 on each vehicle sold in the U.S., the senator said. “By blaming the Department of Commerce, they think they can bypass lawsuits from dealers and call it a force majeure clause,” Moreno said. “That’s obviously just a scam on dealers.”

There are a couple of things to note here. Firstly, that “list” is completely opaque. There’s no public transparency of the federal government’s demands on Polestar in order to keep vehicles flowing, so at this point, it’s one party’s word against another’s. Generally, that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny without supporting evidence, so something substantial will likely need to come to light during discovery in order to support Moreno’s claims.

Secondly, the allegation of the BIS ban being a convenient exit ramp doesn’t make an enormous deal of sense given how Polestar’s carrying on in Canada, and Canadian-spec cars are far closer to U.S.-spec cars than European-spec cars. Canadian cars require U.S.-style side markers, standard backup cameras, and DOT lighting just like American cars, and even efficiency testing’s equivalent across the two markets. Many Canadian-spec cars are so similar to American-spec cars that they even come stamped saying they meet FMVSS and EPA requirements and can be imported well before they turn 25 years of age. Canada is a tiny market compared to the United States, so it only makes sense for a manufacturer to spread out some of the costs of homologation across both markets if feasible.

While much of this case is yet to unfold, it reads as a huge deterrent to car brands looking to enter America. Depending on corporate ownership, marques could themselves be locked into a franchising model, banned seemingly arbitrarily from the market, and then subject to civil suits from angry franchise-holders. Now that it’s already happened once, why would anyone sane voluntarily sign up for that?

Lincoln Up

Speaking of Chinese-built cars, Lincoln has a sunset date for the current Chinese-built U.S.-market Nautilus midsize crossover. You know, the two-row one that’s bigger than an Escape and comes with a pillar-to-pillar screen setup. As Bloomberg reports:

Ford Motor Co. will stop importing the one model it ships into the US from China, with the automaker shifting production of Lincoln sport utility vehicles to its home market. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said Wednesday it will expand Lincoln output in the US beginning in 2030. It has imported the Lincoln Nautilus SUV from China since 2024.

Talk about a 180-degree turn. The previous-generation Nautilus was built in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, alongside the Ford Edge. However, Oakville Assembly’s gone through some twists and turns in recent history. Initially, it was set to be retooled for a forthcoming large electric SUV that never really materialized. Since then, it’s actually been reworked for truck production, with Super Duty trucks set to roll off the line later this year. This all meant that the comparatively lower-volume Nautilus needed to be sourced from somewhere, and that somewhere is Hangzhou for now.

Granted, this reported end-of-decade shift back to American production likely lines up with the end of the current Nautilus’ model cycle, which kicked off for the 2024 model year. Will it be replaced by something of roughly similar size? Almost certainly, but all signs point to the next U.S.-built midsize Lincoln SUV looking markedly different from the current Nautilus.

Taycan Away

The quickest Porsche you can buy right now runs on batteries, and it’s amazing. The Taycan Turbo GT is absolutely mind-bending, and more affordable Taycan variants maintain a great deal of its cornering composure. However, with the model having received a major update in 2024, its days are allegedly numbered. Germany’s Wirtschaftswoche newspaper reports that Porsche is ending Taycan production by 2030. As translated by Google:

Because electric cars are selling even worse at Porsche than combustion engine vehicles, Leiters is putting an end to the “Swabian Tesla” project. He is selling the business of Croatian electric car pioneer Mate Rimac and trying to divest Porsche’s stake in the Californian AI company Applied Intuition. According to insiders, the flagship electric vehicle, the Taycan, is to be discontinued in 2030. A corresponding agreement with the works council simply needs to be put in writing. Porsche declined to comment, but confirmed that Taycan variants are to be dropped.

While no successor’s announced at this time, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if Porsche just chooses to focus on other electric models. Last year, only 16,339 Taycans were delivered globally. That didn’t even beat the 718 sports car, which was partially discontinued in Europe in 2024 due to GSR2 regulations and then completely phased out of production in October. Still, if you want to buy a mind-bogglingly quick electric German sedan, you have a bit of time.

Crunch, Picard, Morgan

It’s common for automakers to make minor changes to a car when a new model year rolls around, and now that the Rivian R2 is out, that’s exactly what’s happening to the R1S and R1T for 2027. Kicking things off, you can finally get a Rivian R1S with one of the most desired features in the three-row SUV world: second-row captain’s chairs. That ought to stop the kids from fighting. These new thrones come with individual armrests, heating, and deployable cup holders, although pricing varies based on trim and upholstery. You could be looking at as little as $1,500 or as much as $4,500.

Otherwise, the R1T gets a new 20-inch wheel-and-tire package, and trim levels have been simplified to “Premium” for dual-motor models, “Performance” for tri-motor models, and “Quad” for quad-motor models. That’s about it as far as rolling changes go, but that doesn’t mean the price stays the same. Rivian is hiking the starting point for its R1S SUV and R1T truck by $7,000 over last year’s models to $81,885 for the R1T and $85,885 for the R1S. Gulp.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

The beauty of digital crate-digging is that sometimes you find something that’s slid completely under the radar, yet scratches an itch perfectly. This is “Council Estates” by kaiork3y, and it probably ought to have more than 94 views on YouTube. Airy soundscapes meet a smooth flow, creating something sonically compelling.

The Big Question:

With Polestar set to exit America’s new car market, have you ever bought a car from a brand that doesn’t exist in America anymore? How was it?

Top graphic image: Polestar

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