2023 Fisker Ocean on 2040-cars

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Fisker files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware

Reuters reports that Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, pointing Henrik Fisker's second independent automotive act into what looks like the same dramatic close as his first act. The Chapter 11 filing, as opposed to Chapter 13, suggests company efforts to stay in business by shedding assets and working out deals with creditors. On the former front, the paperwork filed in Delaware lists estimated asset value at between $500 million to $1 billion against estimated liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. On the latter front, Adobe, Google, and SAP are listed as among the 20 largest creditors. A company spokesperson said, "Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently." While that is indisputably true, Fisker's much larger problem was launching a woefully unfinished Ocean SUV, full of novelties and beautiful outside, almost entirely undercooked inside. Fisker is not the only EV maker to have done this, nor is Fisker the only EV maker to come apart after having done so. CEO Henrik Fisker blamed software issues, the same bane that's tripped up multi-billion-dollar blue chips like Volkswagen and Volvo and General Motors in the EV space, and continues to do so. Fisker, though, unlike those other companies, had no stable of traditional moneymaking products to keep the company out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death.     It's not clear if Fisker has a way out of that valley, either; prospects from the outside look dim. Fixing the Ocean, addressing the NHTSA investigations, and restarting production would require enormous sums of money, and it's not clear Fisker has the expertise and will to do those things even if it got the money. Rebuilding the incinerated goodwill of the past few months among buyers and interested shoppers — the nadir being trying to sell Oceans to Fisker employees for $20,000 plus taxes and fees — would cost even more in time and funds. At the time of writing, CarFax lists 173 Fisker Oceans for sale nationwide, all low miles, prices ranging from $26,000 to $46,000.

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.

Wanxiang wants to restart Fisker Karma production as quickly as possible

It appears that Wanxiang America's $149.2-million acquisition bid was about more than just owning the assets of Fisker Automotive. The Chinese auto parts maker is apparently serious about getting the Karma plug-in hybrid luxury vehicle back on the production line. "We will want to get the Karma back online as quickly as possible." "We will want to get the Karma back online as quickly as possible," Pin Ni, president of Wanxiang America, told The Boston Globe. More details will likely be released by Wanxiang now that US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross has officially approved the purchase. Gross was satisfied that the purchase price includes a 20-percent stake in Fisker for creditors valued at $15 million – something that was not addressed by the original bids from Wanxiang and Hong Kong-based Hybrid Tech Holdings. Wanxiang also owns the maker of the Karma's lithium battery pack, A123 Systems. Creditors were delighted to see Wanxiang's bid, according to attorney William Baldiga, whose law firm represented creditors. "The value is six times what [Fisker] said it was worth when it filed for bankruptcy," Baldiga said, describing the negotiations as "two and a half days of yelling, screaming, bidding." In documents that Wanxiang filed with the federal court in January, Wanxiang mentioned a three-phase plan: building a hatchback version of the Fisker Atlantic (pictured above); restarting production of the Karma at Valmet in Finland, the plant where all the Karmas have so far been built; and then moving production to VL Automotive's manufacturing facility in Michigan. That means Bob Lutz, ex-General Motors vice chairman, could come back into the picture. In the first part of 2013, Lutz and Wanxiang tried to purchase Fisker. Lutz has as ownership stake in VL Automotive and wants to put small-block Corvette V8 engines into Karma bodies, calling the resulting vehicle the Destino. Wanxiang has said VL is the "soul of Fisker," so now that the company has the body, the revival can't be far behind. Featured Gallery Fisker Atlantic: New York 2012 News Source: The Boston Globe Green Plants/Manufacturing Fisker Electric PHEV a123 systems wanxiang karma