YouTuber MKBHD calling the Fisker Ocean the worst car he’s ever reviewed in a recent video is the least of the California-based EV firm’s worries. It’s just announced that it’s slashing its workforce by 15 percent and is holding talks with a large car company to try to secure desperately needed investment.
The moves come in response to Fisker reporting a $463 million loss in the final quarter of 2023, capping a tough year that has left the firm’s future in doubt unless it can raise more funding.
“It’s narrowed down to one large carmaker and I hope we can close this deal soon,” CEO Henrik Fisker told reporters, including reps from Bloomberg. The former Aston Martin designer, whose earlier Fisker Automotive company, maker of the Karma, collapsed more than a decade ago, didn’t disclose which OEM he was talking to.
Fisker said in its latest earnings report that its current resources are “insufficient to satisfy its requirements over the next 12 months” and that there was no guarantee that it would be successful in trying to find new investment. It concluded that “there is substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.
Related: Fisker Could Get Delisted From NYSE As Share Price Falls Below $1
Henrik Fisker admitted that talks had been going on with various automakers for months, Automotive News reports, but that the list of potential suitors has come down to one. The firm said the help it receives “could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North America manufacturing.”
The New York Stock Exchange issued a non-compliance notice last month because Fisker’s stock price had fallen below $1 for 30 days, but off the back of the recent admission that the whole show is teetering on the brink, shares fell to just 47 cents. And with the company in such dire straits there’s no chance of seeing production versions of its planned pickup and a smaller SUV, the Pear, until it gets investment.
