Steve Beattie to replace Matt Hawkins at Polestar

Steve Beattie will replace Matt Hawkins as head of sales in the UK for Polestar after returning to Vauxhall just six months ago.

Beattie was appointed sales and operations director at Vauxhall in February, after a stint with Chinese brand Nio as head of European fleet and sales operations.

He was Vauxhall's national contract hire and leasing manager when he left the British brand after 12 years to join Volvo Car UK's senior team in 2017.

Hawkins (pictured below) has spent the past three-and-a-half years with Polestar, which he described as an “incredible ride” on Linked In.

“I can honestly say that I have never given myself to a project as wholeheartedly as I have with this fantastic brand,” he wrote.

“I joined what Jonathan Goodman dubbed at the time, the ‘little Swedish startup’ in February 2021 as employee number 12 and threw myself at the challenge – 27,000 cars added to UK roads later and I think I it’s safe to say that startup phase is complete.”

He added: “My proudest achievement has been pulling together the most incredible team that I could have wished to share the journey with.

“There is no way that I can name everyone that I wish to thank as there are simply too many in my team, the wider UK team and the HQ support functions.

“But if you have worked with me at all then thank you. I have been challenged and have been challenging, but we created amazing results through it all.”

Hawkins has joined Flexis, the last-mile joint venture from Renault and Volvo.

Beattie will report to Matt Galvin, Polestar managing director for the UK and Ireland. Galvin replaced Jonathan Goodman who retired in June.