The EV boom is over (for now)
Fisker illustrates just how hard it is to start a new car company. Again.
Specifically, from $28.50 in February, 2021, to $0.32 as of this writing. And it looks like the company may soon join ambitious upstarts like Lordstown Motors in bankruptcy court:
Stock in electric vehicle maker Fisker fell afterThe Wall Street Journalreported Wednesday that the start-up has brought in financial advisors and lawyers to help it prepare for the possibility of bankruptcy, citing people familiar with the matter.
Fisker hired FTI Consulting, which is a financial advisor, and law firm Davis Polk to work on a potential bankruptcy filing, the Journal said.
The company said it frequently works with outside advisors to help with managing its business.
“Fisker is focused on raising additional capital and engaging in a strategic partnership with a large automaker,” Fisker said. “The company is also continuing to pursue its shift to a Dealer Partnership model in both North America and Europe.”
[…]
The EV start-up delivered 4,929 units in 2023 and is targeting 20,000 to 22,000 unit sales for 2024. When Fisker was raising money in a SPAC merger in 2020, it forecasted production of 51,000 units in 2023 and 175,000 units in 2024. Development happened slower than expected.
Founding a new car company isn’t easy, even if you have deep pockets, as Henry J. Kaiser found out the hard way. Henrik Fisker himself already tried once before.
If you want to make a go of it, you’d better have enough money (or patient, well-heeled backers) to make cars for many years before you see anything remotely resembling a profit.
And using your first customers as Beta testers doesn’t help:
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