On paper, the Fisker Ocean is a pretty compelling electric crossover. The front-wheel-drive version starts just under $39,000 and offers 231 miles of range, but if you upgrade to the mid-tier $53,000 version, you get 350 miles of range, all-wheel drive and a sub-four-second zero-to-60 mph time. Still, Fisker and the Ocean have had quite a few issues since it went on sale, and as the Wall Street Journal reports, Fisker’s financial situation can probably best be described as “dire” after it lost nearly half a billion dollars last year.
According to Fisker, 2023’s $463 million loss for 2023 means it may not survive for another year. The startup automaker already announced recently that it would lay off 15 percent of its employees, although many of those were reportedly sales strategy positions that have been eliminated now that Fisker has switched to a dealership model. Still, Fisker appears to believe that the only way it can stay in business going forward is to bring in an outside investment from an established automaker.
Getting that investment, though, is likely going to take some time. “The closing of any transaction would be subject to satisfaction of important conditions, including completion of due diligence and negotiation and execution of appropriate definitive agreements,” Henrik Fisker said in a statement.
While Fisker hasn’t officially revealed which companies it is in negotiations with, Reuters reports that Nissan is interested in working out a deal that would give Fisker more than $400 million in exchange for access to the Fisker Alaska’s platform. That would, in turn, allow Nissan to build an electric pickup truck on the platform. According to one unnamed source, the deal has mostly been worked out, and both parties are going through due diligence.
When Reuters asked for a statement regarding the rumor, a Fisker spokesperson said the automaker said they couldn’t comment on speculation, while Nissan’s communications team did not respond.
Whether or not Fisker will be able to negotiate a deal in time to save it from bankruptcy remains to be seen, but hopefully, it can pull it off. It would be a shame to see yet another electric startup fail so soon after bringing its first vehicle to market.