Fisker in trouble: finding a partner did not work

At the end of February 2024, American electric car manufacturer Fisker announced that the company had “serious doubts” about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern due to the poor financial situation. Although they are looking for new funding options, they cannot guarantee that these efforts will be successful.

Money for Fisker, pickup for Nissan

According to the company, it was in talks with the major automaker about a partnership that would include an investment in Fisker as well as the joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms and production in North America. On March 1, 2024, Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies reported that this automotive partner could be Nissan. In return for a $400 million investment, the Japanese automaker could gain access to a pick-up platform designed for Fisker Kayak (formerly Alaska), it was said at the time.

As Reuters further reported citing insiders, Nissan may build its pickup truck along with the Fisker truck on this platform at Nissan’s US plant. The Japanese automaker has assembly plants in Mississippi and Tennessee.

For Nissan, the deal would enable a quick entry into the US market for electric trucks. Fisker could buy time and investment to get sales of its Ocean electric SUV going. Fisker also still has to finance the start of series production of the Pear small electric car, which was originally supposed to start in 2025.

No partner, no money, no plan

However, in a mandatory announcement on March 25, 2024, Fisker announced that negotiations with a potential partner had failed. The carmaker’s shares then fell. The New York Stock Exchange also intends to delist the stock. If the negotiations fail, Fisker will probably lose the financing commitment from the Polish investment fund CVI, which wanted to give the car maker 150 million dollars to be divided into four parts, but maybe he had combined the investment with the entry of a successful partner. CVI is already connected to Fisker through convertible notes due 2025. Fisker now wants to explore all strategic options, including judicial or extrajudicial restructuring or capital market operations, the mandatory announcement continued.

Temporary suspension of production

Regardless of negotiations with potential partners, Fisker had already stopped production of its only model on March 18, 2024. The Ocean electric SUV is manufactured at Magna in Steyr. The production disruption was originally expected to last six weeks.