Why Volvo Can Keep Selling Cars in the U.S. and Polestar Can't

"Decisions regarding specific authorizations will not be made publicly available." — U.S. Commerce Department, Connected Vehicle Rule

Two cars come off the same assembly line in South Carolina. They have the same software stack, according to the company that builds one of them. Starting with model year 2027, the Volvo EX90 can keep being sold in the United States. The Polestar 3 can't.

Both companies are owned by China's Geely. Commerce won't say why one passed and one failed, and under its own rule, it doesn't have to.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers:

- Why the auto supply chain's dependence on China is so hard to unwind, from the hardware all the way down to the source code

- How two companies under the same Chinese parent got opposite answers from Washington

- Why Ford's China-built Lincoln Nautilus suddenly didn't need permission, and what Congress wants to do next

Links:

Kelly Barner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-barner-6884443/

Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/art-of-supply-6895142546301960193

Art of Supply on AOP: http://www.artofsupply.com

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