Former Polestar CTO Stiegler returns to Volvo

The company did not widely publicise Stiegler’s departure from Polestar – Stiegler himself has not yet changed his employer on his LinkedIn profile and is still listed there as Chief Technical Officer at Polestar. However, Polestar lists a new CTO on its management page: Gerry Yang, who took over from Stiegler in October 2025. Yang has been with Geely’s External Collaboration Institute since 2021, prior to which he coordinated technological collaboration between Geely and Volvo Cars.

After more than 18 years at development service provider IAV, Stiegler moved to Volvo’s development department in 2013, where he was initially responsible for gasoline, diesel, and PHEV powertrains as Director of Complete Powertrain Engineering. Later, his role was expanded to include software and specified to electrified powertrains. Before Stiegler joined Polestar as CTO in December 2023, he was responsible for the development of all hardware and software in Volvo’s electric powertrains for three years – i.e., batteries, charging solutions, electric powertrains, and power electronics.

At Volvo, the 58-year-old (e-)powertrain expert will be responsible for technical platform strategy. He will report to Chief Strategy and Product Officer Michael Fleiss. Fleiss himself only returned to Volvo in the summer after spending four years heading up the combustion engine joint venture Aurabay between Volvo and Geely. All of the Swedish company’s combustion engine activities were outsourced to Aurabay when the brand was still fully focused on electric cars. Now, CEO Hakan Samuelsson, who has returned to Volvo and who himself pushed ahead with the electric course in his first phase as CEO, has admitted that Volvo will probably offer plug-in hybrids until the end of the 2030s in order to meet demand.

At Polestar, drive expert Stiegler focused purely on battery-electric solutions, but with his background in combustion engines, he brings all the necessary skills for Volvo’s current direction. And with the development of the Polestar Performance Architecture (PPA) for the upcoming Polestar 5, he has also been responsible for a platform project.

Under Samuelsson, who was himself chairman of the supervisory board at Polestar, several managers who previously worked with Samuelsson at Volvo are returning to the Swedish manufacturer. Former Polestar CEO (and head of design at Volvo under Samuelsson) Thomas Ingenlath also has a new role within the Geely Group: since the summer, the German has been an advisor to Geely Sweden Holding, advising Geely Chairman Eric Li on “design-oriented special projects” for the Geely brands – which include Volvo and Polestar as well as Geely Auto, Zeekr, and Lynk & Co.

autonews.com, automobilwoche.de (German)

This article was originally published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition