Fisker Group Inc., the electric vehicle (EV) startup founded by renowned designer Henrik Fisker, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This marks the culmination of several months of issues with its Ocean SUV, including recalls and numerous lemon law lawsuits. The California-based company had been seeking a deal with another automaker in a desperate attempt to save the business.
The company estimated its assets to be between $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. The court document filed late Monday reported between 200 and 999 creditors, including SAP, Adobe, Salesforce, and Ansys.
The bankruptcy filing comes just a year after Fisker delivered its all-electric vehicle, the Ocean SUV, to customers. The vehicle was plagued with problems from the start, with customers reporting a range of software and mechanical issues shortly after delivery. Internally, the company struggled with customer service and maintenance efforts and even had difficulty managing its finances.
Despite using contract manufacturer Magna, Fisker only managed to deliver a few thousand vehicles worldwide. The initial plan when it went public in 2020 through a special purpose acquisition company merger was to leverage Magna’s vehicle-building skills to create a relationship akin to Apple and Foxconn. However, this plan fell through.
In an attempt to conserve cash, Fisker underwent several rounds of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures in the last few months. It also changed its business model, shifting away from direct sales to customers, a system popularized by Tesla, and instead tried to partner with established dealers. Despite these efforts, the company was unable to avoid bankruptcy.
This is the second vehicle company named after Henrik Fisker that has ended up in bankruptcy. His first venture, Fisker Automotive, started in 2007 and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013. That company also managed to get its vehicle, a hybrid electric sports car, into production before encountering quality problems and other external factors that proved fatal.
Read more: techcrunch.com