Fisker shows Ocean model at the Mobile World Congress mobile trade show. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa ... [+]
Electric vehicle maker Fisker, founded by Danish automotive designer Henrik Fisker and his wife Geeta Gupta-Fisker, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. "Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently," the company said in a prepared statement.
Most industry experts noted the writing was on the wall. The Ocean, the automaker's only EV offering, was slow to sell due to weakening demand, and owners complained about loss-of-power incidents with vehicles that had been delivered. In March of this year, Fisker announced that it was struggling financially due to a net loss of $463 million in 2023. With its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in Delaware, the company joins Proterra, Lordstown, and Electric Last Mile Solutions—fellow EV automakers on the same sinking boat.
Automotive industry experts had been apprehensive about Fisker since its start in 2016, citing Henrik Fisker's track record with hybrid car company Fisker Automotive—the Karma, its offering, was substandard compared to the rest of the industry. The company failed in 2014.
"A lot of companies, both traditional and startup, have dreamed of being 'the next Tesla' without actually considering Tesla's path, which included more than a decade of losing money even with essentially zero competition," remarked Karl Brauer, Executive Analyst at iSeeCars.com. "Now companies like Fisker, Lucid, and Rivian are trying to follow Tesla's path in a world bursting with electric vehicles, including Chinese models that cost less and offer more than these companies can match. If you're a non-Chinese EV startup with a 10-plus year financial timeframe that doesn't require profitability...well, you still probably won't make it. But you need at least that much runway as a starting point to even have a shot. Fisker didn't."
Even if Fisker had sufficient funding, the weakening demand for electric vehicles in a crowded market and the company's debatable management would have led to its demise. "Big picture, Fisker failed because the EV market is over-saturated by new all-EV companies and incumbent automakers alike. With nearly 1,000 models in production worldwide, almost no model makes money, and the companies who have no other business, such as gasoline cars, are likely to go bankrupt first," noted Anton Wahlman, Seeking Alpha Analyst. "Small picture, Fisker's management was questionable at best, with Henrik's wife—I kid you not—serving as CFO. Can you imagine if the CFO of Ford was the CEO's wife? This story had more red flags than a May Day parade."
"There were a lot of failures when it came to the Fisker brand," said Lauren Fix of Car Coach Reports. "Although the car looked cool, it took too long to get to market after tons of hype. In addition to all the excitement, the product had some issues with software, and there were some components in the vehicle that were cheap quality."
Experts also pointed out that those who backed the company should have been more cautious based on the founder's track record. "Investors and customers should have been extra careful with Henrik Fisker given the outcome of Fisker 1.0 a decade prior. Instead, people jumped into the pool blindfolded and with their memories erased. Generally, not a good strategy," said Wahlman.
"Fisker used private and government funds to build the company up," Fix added. "This was his second attempt at building a car company that did not go as planned. His previous brand, Fisker, failed because the battery supplier, Battery 123, had led to fires. Part of the failures of this attempt was mismanagement from the accounting side. Miss-placed payments, missing money, and no profits. No car company is making a profit with electric vehicles."
