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Fisker hires adviser to prepare for possible bankruptcy filing

Electric vehicle startup Fisker has hired restructuring advisers to assist with a possible bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company has hired financial adviser FTI Consulting and the law firm Davis Polk to work on a potential bankruptcy filing, according to the report. Fisker declined to comment. According to CNN, Fisker's stock price fell more than 40% in after-hours trading after the report was published. Overall, the stock is down more than 80% since the start of 2024. Earlier this month, Fisker flagged going-concern risks, job cuts and a pause in investments into future projects until it secures a partnership with a manufacturer. Nissan was in advanced talks to invest in Fisker in a deal that could provide the Japanese automaker with access to an electric pickup truck, Reuters reported earlier this month, citing two people familiar with the negotiations.   Earnings/Financials Green Fisker

2024 Dodge Charger, the Apple Car and the 5 worst car brands | Autoblog Podcast #822

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale. They lead off with the 2024 Dodge Charger reveal, followed by various EV startup news including the reported death of the Apple Car; rumors of a tie-up between Fisker and Nissan; and when we'll finally see the Tesla Roadster. That's followed by rumors of sporty EVs from VW group possibly including an Audi TT and the five worst car brands according to Consumer Reports. Road Test Editor Zac Palmer pops in to discuss Formula 1 at Bahrain, and Migliore and Stocksdale wrap up the podcast with the cars they've been driving: the Toyota Prius, Kia EV9 and Infiniti QX50. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #822 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown News 2024 Dodge Charger Reveal Apple Car reportedly dead Fisker and Nissan rumors Tesla Roadster production target Electric VW group sports coupes Five worst car brands Formula 1 at Bahrain What we've been driving 2024 Toyota Prius 2024 Kia EV9 (Road trip to Chicago) 2024 Infiniti QX50 Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video:

Nissan, Fisker in advanced talks on investment, partnership

Nissan is in advanced talks to invest in electric vehicle maker Fisker in a deal that could provide the Japanese automaker with access to an electric pickup truck while giving the struggling startup a financial lifeline, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The deal could close this month, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the talks are ongoing and have not been finalized. Terms being discussed include Nissan investing more than $400 million in Fisker's truck platform and building Fisker's planned Alaska pickup starting in 2026 at one of its U.S. assembly plants, one of the sources said. Nissan would build its own electric pickup on the same platform, the source said. Nissan has U.S. assembly plants in Mississippi and Tennessee. Fisker said on Thursday, when it announced it might not be able to continue as a going concern and would cut 15% of its workforce, that it was in talks with a large automaker for a potential investment and joint development partnership. It did not name the automaker. A Fisker spokesman said the company does not comment on speculation, while Nissan officials were not immediately available to comment. Fisker shares had been down about 45% before the Reuters report but pared those losses and were trading down about 25% with a market capitalization of more than $295 million. The term sheet is ready and the deal is going through due diligence, one of the sources said. Nissan was an EV pioneer with its fully battery powered Leaf hatchback in 2010 but has since struggled in the face of nimbler new entrants. A deal with Fisker would help it move into the growing U.S. electric pickup market. Nissan's talks with Fisker comes in the wake of the former's “rebalanced” relationship with its long-time alliance partner Renault. Last year, Nissan and Renault finalised terms of a restructured alliance after months of negotiations. They aim to have cross-shareholdings of 15% as part of the deal. The more limited alliance removes certain restrictions and has opened the door for Nissan to develop growth plans in areas such as EVs and software independent of Renault, said one of the sources, who is familiar with Nissan's thinking. The Yokohama-headquartered automaker is scouring “many, many opportunities,” the person said.

Fisker is laying off 15% of staff and says it needs more cash ahead of a 'difficult year'

Electric vehicle startup Fisker is planning to lay off 15% of its workforce and says it likely does not have enough cash on hand to survive the next 12 months. The company says it is trying to find a way to raise that money as it works through a pivot from direct sales to a dealership model. "[W]e have put a plan in place to streamline the company as we prepare for another difficult year," founder and CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement. Fisker reported more than 1,300 employees as of the end of September 2023, meaning the cut could affect close to 200 people. The company's share price plunged 35% in after-hours trading. Fisker said Thursday that it finished 2023 with $396 million in cash, though $70 million of that is restricted. The company says it is talking with one of its lenders about making "an additional investment" in the company. It also claims it is "in negotiations with a large automaker for a potential transaction which could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North America manufacturing." A partnership like that will be crucial, as Fisker executives said on a call Thursday that it won't invest any more money in its future products unless it works with another automaker. That means the fates of a pickup truck, compact EV and other models that Fisker has teased are now in question. The company's financial struggles come as it is trying to move to a wholesale model built around partnerships with dealers, a shift that Fisker says has "negatively impacted" its sales so far. It's currently sitting on inventory of thousands of vehicles that are collectively worth more than $500 million. Fisker says it has received interest from around 250 dealerships but has only signed up 13 to date. Fisker has also been dealing with a number of problems with its Ocean SUV, its only model so far, as TechCrunch reported earlier this month. The company has said it resolved some issues with a software update in December and planned to fix many more in a larger 2.0 update earlier this month, but that only started making its way to customer vehicles this week. It is currently being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for reports of sudden brake failure, as well as for a handful of vehicle rollaway incidents. A number of big automakers are pulling back on their aggressive EV targets, and newer players are having trouble as well.

Fisker's 2023 Ocean vehicles face NHTSA's preliminary probe

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary probe into claims of unintended vehicle movement in about 4,000 of Fisker's 2023 Ocean electric sport utility vehicles, the agency said on Friday. The NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation received four complaints "alleging unintended vehicle movement" related to the 2023 Ocean model. The complaints alleged an inability to shift into the park mode or into the intended gear, which could result in an unintended vehicle movement, the U.S. auto safety agency added. One of the complaints alleged an injury, the NHTSA said. Fisker did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fisker Ocean electric SUV rife with serious problems, internal documents show

On a typically sunny day in Los Angeles last June, Henrik Fisker choked up as he handed over his company's first all-electric SUVs in the United States. "I'm really kind of emotional about it, because we've been waiting two-and-a-half years for this, and everyone here has done a tremendous job," the founder and CEO said. The day had started on a celebratory note. Fisker, donning a graphic tee depicting the electric Ocean SUV, hugged and posed for photos with the company's first customers -- at one point even signing one of the vehicles. What happened next was a harbinger for Fisker and what his eponymous company continues to grapple with: Shortly after Fisker board member Wendy Greuel took delivery, her Ocean SUV lost power on a public road, according to two employees familiar with the matter. The company has confirmed the incident occurred, and said the issue with her vehicle was fixed. Two months later, Geeta Gupta Fisker -- the company's chief financial officer, chief operating officer and Henrik's wife -- took an Ocean out for a drive, only to have it suffer a similar fate, according to a cache of internal documents viewed by TechCrunch. Fisker also confirmed her vehicle lost power, blaming it on a compatibility issue with a special engineering data logger that is not in customer cars. In the months since, Fisker Ocean SUV customers have reported more than 100 separate loss-of-power incidents, the internal documents show. The company told TechCrunch it believes these problems are rare, and that it has resolved "almost all the issues" with software updates. Problems with the Ocean SUV, however, are not limited to the vehicle suddenly losing power, a review of nearly 200 documents shows. Customers have also reported sudden loss of braking power, problematic key fobs causing them to get locked inside or outside of the vehicle, seat sensors that don't detect the driver's presence and the SUV's front hood suddenly flying up at high speeds. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating the braking problems, which Fisker claims it resolved. The company told TechCrunch that fixes for the other problems have either been implemented, or are coming in a "Version 2.0" software update scheduled to be released next week. Fisker launched the Ocean later than expected due in part to challenges with the SUV's software; the company spent much of last year making up for lost ground.

Fisker adds dealerships to direct sales model to boost EV sales

Electric vehicle company Fisker said on Thursday that it would add dealerships alongside its direct-to-customer distribution model to expand its sales and delivery network. The California-based company, which sells its vehicles across the United States and Canada apart from other markets in Europe, has only two showrooms or Fisker Lounges in North America — one in Los Angeles and the other in New York. In other locations, it has retail stores called Fisker Center+. Fisker said, in Europe, it will continue to offer direct sales but will bring onboard partners for sales and distribution. While the EV startup made more than 10,000 vehicles in 2023, it delivered only about 4,700 units of the Ocean sport utility vehicles due to distribution constraints. "We are evolving our business model and intend to add as many as 50 dealer partners in the US and Canada and a similar number of dealer locations in Europe this year," CEO Henrik Fisker said. The company expects to send its first Ocean vehicles to new dealers by the end of the first quarter, Fisker said, adding that it has been in talks with dealer partners since November 2023. Lucid, Rivian and Fisker have followed an online and direct-to-consumer model that was started by Elon Musk-led Tesla, in their efforts to cut out middlemen that dealership models have. Earlier this week, Vietnamese electric car maker VinFast Auto said that it had signed its first five dealerships in Texas, New York, Kansas and North Carolina. Swedish EV maker Polestar also uses a dealership model. 

Fisker delivers 4,700 electric cars in 2023, shares jump on quadrupled sales

Henrik Fisker shows off the coming Fisker Alaska pickup. (Getty Images)   Fisker said on Friday its electric vehicle deliveries jumped more than four-fold during the final quarter, helping it hand over about 4,700 vehicles for the year. The rise in quarterly sales volume was primarily driven by strong demand for the Fisker Ocean SUV, priced at about $69,000, the company said. Fisker started making its first deliveries to U.S. customers in June. The company will announce a plan in January to boost sales and deliveries to align production capacity with strong demand for the Ocean SUV, Fisker said. Shares of the California-based EV company were up more than 10% in premarket trading. They have lost about 79% so far this year. Smaller EV firms are facing dwindling cash reserves, pressured by high costs related to production ramp-ups and price cuts to boost demand. Fisker, which has a deal with Magna International's Austrian unit to manufacture its cars, made 10,142 vehicles in 2023. The company, however, slashed its annual production forecast twice in the past two months as it slowed down production to meet working capital needs.  

Fisker scales back production to divert cash for working capital

Electric-vehicle maker Fisker said on Friday it will scale down production this month and produce fewer cars this year than its previous guidance, to prioritize cash for working capital needs. Shares of the EV maker, which has been struggling with a cash crunch, rose 7% in premarket. "Fisker has made a strategic decision to reduce December production to prioritize liquidity to unlock over $300 million of working capital," the company said. Fisker cut its production target for the year — at least a second time — to just over 10,000 units, compared with its earlier forecast of 13,000 to 17,000. The company said it delivered 123 vehicles on Thursday, adding it plans to accelerates sale and deliveries despite the tough market conditions for EVs. Some EV firms are facing dwindling cash reserves, pressured by high costs related to production ramp-ups and inflation and price cuts by rivals such Tesla. In its most recent financial results, which were filed after a delay due to the departure of its former accounting chief, Fisker reported a loss of $91 million and revenue of $71.8 million for the third quarter, both missing expectations. Green Plants/Manufacturing Fisker Electric

Fisker Pear to get 'see-through' A-pillar and hopped-up Extreme trim

Fisker put a Pear on display at the L.A. Auto show in production spec. The latest display came with a few more updates on the urban EV planned to enter production at the end of next year at Foxconn's plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The first new bit is what's being called a "see-through A-pillar." The only car we've ever seen with an actual see-through A-pillar was the 2001 Volvo Safety Car Concept, the feature not making it to production on the C30 hatchback, regrettably. On the Pear, the see-through bit is performed by cameras projecting the view obscured by the A-pillars onto small screens located inside the cabin where the instrument panel meets the doors. These screens would also help explain Fisker's desire to sell the Pear with side-view cameras in the U.S., since the screens are already there. The displays weren't shown in the photos Fisker released in August, but they were in the auto show car. The automaker again noted there will be two battery options, the smaller with an urban-centric estimated range of 180 miles, the larger Hyper Range pack aiming at an estimated 320 miles. The press release says the little crossover targets "a base 0-60 mph time of 6.3 seconds." We don't know if "base" in this case means the quickest time among the two trims, two drivetrains — RWD and AWD, and 20-inch wheels on all-season tires or 22-inch wheels on high-performance tires, or if it refers to the base model's smaller battery pack. Either way, seems there's a quicker option coming, Fisker mentioning a high-performance trim called the Pear Extreme.  We're treated to some tech specs on the Blade computer that's the brains of the Pear, but we're still waiting to find out what the promised processing and wireless data speeds will mean for the user experience. When introducing the Alaska pickup and the Pear to the audience, Henrik Fisker seems to have described the Blade as being two computers and called it "the latest, newest standard of the world." One aspect not mentioned in the PR is what looks like a projected gauge cluster. The Pear in the photos from August fitted a slightly different instrument panel than the car at the show. At 1:22 in a walkaround video Fiskerati shot at the L.A. show, the Pear's dashboard appears to show vehicle information projected onto the instrument panel behind the steering wheel.