Is Nissan joining Fisker?

American electric car manufacturer Fisker may have found a partner, Reuters news agency reports. Accordingly, Nissan plans to start with large capital and production capacity. However, this news is not entirely surprising, as Henrik Fisker had already announced a long time ago that he wanted to find a large car manufacturer as a partner. There were rumors that it would be an American or Japanese company.

This could give the Japanese automaker access to an electric platform that the pickup truck will soon be built on, as reported by Automobilwoche. The contract is expected to be closed this month. A Fisker spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the rumors, according to Reuters, while Nissan representatives could not be reached for comment.

Fisker had previously warned that the company was facing bankruptcy without an investor because it was only able to sell a few cars in 2023. “2023 was challenging for Fisker, with supplier delays and other issues contributing to our inability to deliver Ocean as quickly as planned.”, said Henrik Fisker on the annual balance sheet of 2023. As a result, of the 10,200 electric cars built, only less than half were delivered. In the previous fiscal year, the net loss was $762 million. The first step was to cut 15 percent of the workforce.

A win-win situation?

It is now believed that Nissan wants to invest more than $400 million in Fisker’s pickup truck platform and build the planned Alaskan pickup truck in one of its US assembly plants starting in 2026. According to media reports, the major automaker Car also plans to build its own electric vehicle on the same platform. The company has assembly plants in Mississippi and Tennessee.

Nissan, a pioneer in the field of electric vehicles since 2010 with the Leaf model, has brought a few new ones to the market since then. A possible deal with Fisker would also help the Japanese enter the growing US market for electric pick-ups. Fisker’s first model, the Ocean electric SUV, is currently being manufactured at Magna’s factory in Graz, Austria. The American manufacturer announced that it is in talks with five traditional carmakers and that two cars are almost ready, according to Reuters. However, to bring them to market quickly, a large capacity is necessary.

A merger between the two manufacturers will remove barriers and give Nissan the opportunity to pursue growth plans in areas such as electric vehicles and software independently of Renault, two insiders are said to have revealed. The Yokohama automaker is currently investigating “many, many possibilities“. The plan could be a salvation for Fisker. That’s what it takes to survive at a time when aggressive price cuts from market leaders like Tesla and BYD are putting pressure on the industry worldwide.

Fisker wants to focus on pickup trucks

At Fisker, current financial resources should “not enough” to cover the next twelve months. Without additional funding, there is a risk that production will be closed, investment will be reduced and more jobs will be cut, it is said. Fisker also said it was in discussions with a lender about a possible investment. They confidently plan to deliver between 20,000 and 22,000 Oceans in 2024.

Last week, Fisker’s CEO announced that negotiations had narrowed to one automaker and the deal would include the joint development of one or more electric platforms and manufacturing in North America. The company’s startup presented Alaska last year at a price of more than 45,000 US dollars, and it is planned to start production early next year – provided that financial resources are available. And this should probably come to Europe too.

The Alaska platform is an extended version of the Ocean platform. They and any related Nissan vehicle would compete in a segment that includes the Ford F-150 Electric, GM’s Chevrolet Silverado Electric Truck, the Rivian R1T and the Tesla Cybertruck. The company also said that the startup will not spend money on additional projects until a strategic partnership is in place, according to Reuters. A partnership that now seems to have been achieved.

Sources: Automobilwoche – Nissan is said to be heavily invested in Fisker / Reuters – Exclusive: Nissan, Fisker in high-profile investment talks, corporate sources