Global EV Reports

Fisker: Is the End Near?

Fisker has been wading through a troubled launch of its first production model, the Ocean. Assembled in Austria by Magna Steyr, the Ocean has been plagued by supply chain issues and delivery troubles making it tough to get finished vehicles to the customers Fisker says are waiting for them. To fix its delivery issues, Fisker has enlisted private dealers to retail its vehicles.? In many states, this closes the door to the direct sales model on which the company planned to market its vehicles. So far, thirteen dealers have signed up to sell Fisker vehicles, but the company claims it has received as many as 250 “expressions of interest from dealers” across North America and Europe.

Losses in the 2023 fiscal year are big and punctuated by the reported US$200 million revenue and a US$463 million loss in the fourth quarter. Needing more financing, the company stated that failure to locate more funding will lead to “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.” On the plus side, the company announced 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.” With its delayed in-house EV program and under utilized assembly facilities, Nissan emerged as the potential partner as it looked to get itself back on track. While Fisker also needs the help, the startup’s current condition could be a bigger long-term problem.

Shortly after stories emerged of negotiations with Nissan, the EV startup reportedly explored bankruptcy protection. In desperate need of more financing, the company announced it was temporarily halting production. The automaker’s stock price, already at risk of being delisted, was immediately halved after the Wall Street Journal report on March 13. Between the US$28.50 peak in February 2021 and the March crash, Fisker’s stock price lost more than 99.4% of its value. Trading on Fisker stock was halted March 25 as its share price fell to US$0.08. With the company’s asset-light approach, Fisker owns its designs and name but little else to lure in potential investors.

Polestar: Expects Better Times

After recent reports of bad news involving Polestar, the EV startup based in China offered a better outlook. Claiming it ensured loans from a number of banks around the world, the Geely-controlled automaker said it has access to as much as US$950 million over the next three years. As Polestar prepares to launch its third model, the company says it will report profits by the end of 2024. The company’s current Polestar 2 has been joined by production of the Polestar 3 in China with plans to produce the crossover at Volvo’s Charleston plant in South Carolina by the end of the year; the sportier Polestar 4 will follow quickly afterward.

Sales have been lower in the last few quarters and the company has been struggling to find cash since going public two years ago. Polestar promise that the new round of loans will get the automaker through its current woes and onto a brighter 2025.

NIO: Losses Keep Mounting

Part of the early wave of electric vehicle manufacturers in China that emerged to take on Tesla, NIO sports a full lineup of models including the ET5 compact sedan and wagon; the mid-sized ET7 sedan; ES6 and ES7 mid-sized crossovers, EC6 and EC7 mid-sized crossover coupes, and ES8 full-sized crossover. After launching all of those models, the brand took 2024 off to launch the Alps brand late this year with planned updates to the NIO lineup begin in 2025. In the meantime, the competition is squeezing the company.

The automaker hasn’t come close to its sales targets and January 2024 production was just 64% of the company’s output one year earlier. Expectations for slower sales in the first quarter of this year accompanied the automaker’s report of RMB20.9 billion (US$2.9 billion) loss for the 2023 calendar year, which followed cost reductions and layoffs in the fourth quarter. While retail sales grew by nearly 16% in January, the market saw a 68% gain over what was a terrible month a year earlier.

?