Fisker Inc. Files for Bankruptcy Amidst $2 Billion Losses and Delisting 📉

On the evening of June 17th, local time, the American electric vehicle startup Fisker Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection. After consuming a significant amount of capital in an attempt to increase the production of its sole product, the Ocean SUV, the company hopes to save its business by selling assets and restructuring its debts.

Once a Rival to Tesla 🚗💨

Fisker, a veteran of the American new force in car manufacturing, was founded by the renowned automotive designer Henrik Fisker. He has been involved in the design of models such as the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9, and V8 Vantage. In 2005, Henrik Fisker and his partner Bernhard Koehler established Fisker Coachbuild, an automotive design company mainly providing private customization for luxury cars.

At the beginning of 2007, Henrik Fisker took on the initial design work for the Tesla Model S. A few months later, he quickly established Fisker Automotive and launched the first model, the Karma range-extended hybrid supercar. Because of this, Tesla believed that Henrik Fisker had plagiarized its range-extended technology during the cooperation and sued him in court. Although Tesla lost the lawsuit, it did not prevent Musk from repeatedly criticizing Fisker and its products. Some people jokingly referred to Henrik Fisker as Musk's "lifelong enemy."

Fisker's first car, the Karma, was somewhat famous at the time for its unique design and was a direct competitor to Tesla. However, excellent design could not make up for the technical flaws of the car. Quality issues followed one after another, and multiple spontaneous combustion incidents led to frequent recalls. Coupled with a high price tag of $130,000, the Karma's sales volume never increased. The bankruptcy of the exclusive battery supplier A123 in 2012 was another heavy blow. In the first half of 2013, Henrik Fisker announced his resignation, and Fisker went on the auction block of the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2014, Wanxiang Group of China acquired Fisker for $149.2 million. From its establishment to bankruptcy, Fisker only sold more than 2,000 Karmas in total.

Consecutive Years of Losses 📉

Currently, Fisker has only one model, the Ocean, on sale, with a starting price of about $40,000. There is also a pure electric compact SUV, Pear, which was unveiled last year and was originally scheduled to be put into production in 2025. However, Fisker may not wait for this day.

As early as February of this year, Fisker received a delisting warning letter because its stock price was below an average of $1 for 30 consecutive trading days. At that time, Fisker frankly stated that if it could not obtain more financing, its ability to continue operating might be greatly questioned, and the company was discussing an investment that could save the company with a "large automobile manufacturer." Fisker did not disclose the name, but the industry rumored that its potential partner was Nissan.

However, in late March, Fisker announced that it had received a notice from the large automobile manufacturer it had previously negotiated with, deciding to terminate the negotiations. Fisker had to adjust its strategy and consider restructuring and capital market transactions. Affected by this news, Fisker's stock price plummeted, and the New York Stock Exchange urgently issued an announcement ordering Fisker to delist. The failure of cooperation with the large car company became the last straw that overwhelmed Fisker.

Fisker's current predicament is inseparable from its own unsatisfactory revenue and inability to turn over funds. Financial reports show that from 2021 to 2023, Fisker's revenue was $106,000, $342,000, and $273 million, respectively, with net losses of $471 million, $547 million, and $940 million, respectively. Over the past three years, Fisker's operating loss was $1.459 billion, and the net loss was $1.958 billion. As of the end of 2023, Fisker's total assets were $1.832 billion, but the total liabilities were as high as $1.93 billion, which has already constituted insolvency.

In terms of sales, in 2023, Fisker produced about 10,000 vehicles, less than a quarter of its expected volume, and the delivery volume was less than 5,000. In addition, it is worth mentioning that, like the "1.0" era, the quality issues still troubled this car company in the "2.0" era. In May of this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States announced a preliminary investigation of 6,813 Oceans produced by Fisker in 2023. The reason was that the AEB system of the car was activated without obvious obstacles, causing the vehicle to suddenly slow down at high speed and causing injuries. Before that, due to issues such as doors that could not be opened, rolling on uneven roads, and abnormal brake systems, Fisker had been investigated more than once.

Of course, Fisker is not an exception. It is a story that many new American car forces are playing, rising and going public due to the development of the American electric car wave, and falling down due to the rapid deterioration of the financing environment and the lack of independent "blood-making" ability, including Electric Last Mile Solutions, Lordstown Motors, Proterra, etc. In addition, Rivian, Lucid, Nikola, Faraday Future, etc. are also struggling, in the wind and rain, who will be the next to fall?