There’s a somewhat overt hint from the official Gran Turismo social media channels that we’re about to get a new brand making its series debut, in the shape of Polestar.
Update (08/11): We’re now able to confirm that Polestar will be coming to Gran Turismo 7 in the Spec III update this December and, not only that, we’ve driven it! The original article continues after the embed below:
Gran Turismo World Series event weekends are usually a rich vein for finding out about new content coming to games in upcoming updates, with partner presentations, the reveal and use of new circuits, and the occasional good, old-fashioned leak. This weekend’s Los Angeles event looks like it’ll be no different on that front.
Even before the players arrived on-scene there was a lot of expectation on that front. After the reveal of the highly anticipated Spec III update back in September, we already had a couple of tracks — yes, really; tracks! — and four cars on the slate for December, but with plenty of unknowns besides.
One of the early announcements for the LA event was the fact it would stage the first ever Gran Turismo Fan Fest, which would include a chance for attendees to try out Spec III — filling in some of those blanks for us. However it may be the case that the social media crew at Gran Turismo have revealed one a little early.
A reel posted to Instagram showed a rather interesting fleet of vehicles being used to ferry the competitors around, comprising at least seven different Polestar 3 models all wearing the Gran Turismo series logo. Not only that, Polestar Cars was tagged in the post too.
While we’ve seen cars with GT logos at previous World Series (and World Tour) events, they usually comprise a range of vehicles from different manufacturers. These are primarily sourced from local press offices and don’t always connect to Gran Turismo in any meaningful way.
However the only previous time we’ve seen a single brand bringing a fleet of cars and those cars also being used as competitor/media/VIP taxis was the World Final in Barcelona in 2023. That brand was Genesis, and it came on the occasion of the reveal of its original Vision Gran Turismo car.
You might be familiar with Polestar if you’re a niche European performance car fan or a World Touring Car Championship viewer. Originally a race team, Polestar became the go-to marque for Volvo tuning and you could probably spot the little Rebel Blue square on an otherwise unassuming V60 that just blew you away. It also ran Volvo models in the WTCC to great effect.
Volvo acquired the company in 2015, making Polestar models official products, before spinning it off into a dedicated, standalone company producing electric vehicles. That said, its first car — the Polestar 1 — was a hybrid, and pretty much a two-door version of the S90 sedan. Since then though, it’s introduced a range of pure EVs based on platforms shared with Volvo and fellow Geely concerns Zeekr, Lynk&Co, and smart.
Polestar has previously been a little shy about appearing in driving games. In fact you pretty much have to look at Need for Speed: Heat, where its first ever vehicle — the hybrid Polestar 1 — featured as the hero car and adorned the game’s cover. Since then, and the grandfathered appearance in the sequel title Unbound, there’s not been much on the Polestar front, making the possibility of the brand appearing in GT7 rather curious.
As for which cars it may bring if it does arrive, there’s several possibilities. The only vehicle the brand ever made with an internal combustion engine would be the one that petrolheads would be drawn to, but the Polestar 1 was always a niche product, a limited edition, and not entirely connected to the current brand ethos.
That leaves the three current models, one that’s coming pretty soon, and a fifth car that isn’t quite ready in the real world yet — not that this is a limitation for a video game, of course. Unlike other brands that number their cars, according to size or category, these are simply chronological order of production.
The Polestar 2 is the oldest and most ubiquitous on the roads, comprising a five-door sort-of hatchback that squeezes between hatch and crossover classes. It’s available in a variety of power (and range) options with up to 420hp in Dual Motor form.
Introduced in 2024, the Polestar 3 is more of a traditional crossover and based on the Volvo EX90. It’s an AWD, two-motor as standard, with 480hp in base form and it’s also the car you see in the GT Instagram video. The Polestar 4 came in the same year, and is easy to spot as it has no rear window at all. Given that Polestar also says the 536hp Dual Motor model is the quickest car it’s ever made (so far), that’ll usually be all you see of it too.
After that there’s the Polestar 5, which is starting to do the media rounds at present and will be the only sedan in the line-up when it lands in late 2025/early 2026. It’s set to have a ludicrous 870hp in two-motor form so this might be the one that’ll get the most attention. Finally there’s a two-door, four-seat convertible in the works called the Polestar 6 but recent reports suggest this has been delayed in favor of higher-volume models.
Naturally there’s one other possibility: a Vision Gran Turismo. This is a path we’ve seen recently for several brands making a debut in the series or returning after the content-slash of GT Sport. Skoda, Opel, and Xiaomi were all announced with a Vision GT car, though only Xiaomi has other vehicles confirmed too. The presence of both Polestar and Volvo in the game could also open up a path for some heritage models like the V60 Polestar.
If Polestar really is coming to GT, we’re expecting more information over the GT World Series event in Los Angeles this weekend. The Fan Fest gets underway at about 1pm local time (2100 UTC), an hour before the Orpheum Theatre venue itself opens to the public, so watch this space for more around then!
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