Design (Multiple Models)
Maximilian Missoni
Head of Design, Polestar
TITLE: Head of design
COMPANY: Polestar
BASED: Gothenburg, Sweden
AGE: 44
NATIONALITY: Austrian
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
With degrees from the University of Art and Design Linz and the Royal College of Art, Maximilian Missoni started his career in 2002 at Volkswagen as a designer. He became a senior exterior designer at VW Group Advanced Design in 2006, a position he held until 2012. Missoni then moved to Volvo Cars, where he became vice president exterior design. He was named head of design at Volvo subsidiary Polestar in 2018.
REASON FOR WINNING
Polestar has taken a big leap into the unknown with a public listing this year. But it is not a typical EV startup because it has backing from Volvo and Geely and already has a successful electric car on the road, the Polestar 2. Nonetheless, Polestar has the ambition to increase its sales tenfold to 290,000 between 2021 and 2025. To do so, it will need more models.
Missoni and his team are gearing up for this with a range of attractive, functional vehicles that should help Polestar stand out from both established automakers and new entrants. In addition to the Polestar 2 and Polestar 1, a sleek plug-in hybrid sports coupe, next month the automaker will unveil the Polestar 3, a premium large SUV that it says is an electric rival to the Porsche Cayenne. The Polestar 4 premium midsize SUV and Polestar 5 luxury sedan (based on the Precept concept) will follow in 2023 and 2024, respectively. And the Polestar 6 -- based on the Polestar 02 concept -- will be a rival to the Porsche 911 when it arrives in 2026.