Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection late Monday, the latest startup in the electric vehicle industry to collapse after raising large amounts of cash with high expectations from investors.
Fisker’s bankruptcy filing comes about a year after it delivered its first vehicle, four years after it went public, and months of doubts about its financial viability. The start-up has repeatedly cut production targets for its flagship Ocean SUV and faced mounting financial turmoil, “Considerable doubt“This may continue to be a concern in February, Suspends production March and Default in loan repayments In May.
Talks with another automaker about a potential investment broke down earlier this year, and the company’s failing stock, once worth several billion dollars, was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.Abnormally low“Price Levels.
It said Fisker had delivered 6,400 vehicles in mid-April. It outsourced manufacturing and emphasized its design and software, such as the rotating dashboard screen.
Fisker is looking to sell its assets, which its bankruptcy filing lists at $500 million to $1 billion. The company listed loans ranging from $100 million to $500 million, with Adobe and Google among its largest lenders.
“Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic interventions that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently,” Fisker said. said in a statement Announcing its Chapter 11 petition filed in Delaware.
Demand for electric vehicles, while buoyant, has disappointed auto executives, raising questions about investing heavily in new models and factories, even for market leaders like Tesla. Intense competition from Chinese automakers worries Western executives.
Fisker is among EV start-ups that have raised billions of dollars in 2020 and 2021 on the promise of rapid growth, their market introductions by joining special-purpose acquisition firms. A bankruptcy petition was filed. Others, like Cano and Nicola, struggled financially.
Fisker’s filing is the second time its founder, Henrik Fisker, oversaw a bankrupt car company. His previous venture, Fisker Automotive, filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2013.
Sara Fosse, global head of legal and restructuring at financial services firm DebtWire, said that while Lordstown and Proterra will become “much leaner companies” after selling assets through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the road ahead for Fisker could be rocky. That’s because the company appears to be entering bankruptcy while it searches for a buyer for its assets and negotiates with financial partners, he said.
John Paul McDuffie, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said software and design issues contributed to start-up backlash.
“It failed to master some of these important aspects of being a car company,” he said.
