Electric cars have flat batteries. From the American Fisker to the German e.Go Mobile
Engine sobbing for Fisker, the car chosen by the Pope, with a stock market stampede already begun and investors not coming forward. The Californian Phantom Auto which bet on remote driving and the German Next.e.GO Mobile which was about to launch the second car on tap on the market went bankrupt in the space of a few days
With the sharp decline in demand for electric cars, the big manufacturers have hastily reversed their industrial plans . Not least Volkswagen, the European manufacturer that has stood out more than any other in its commitment to electrification, perhaps also to shake off the shame of dieselgate once and for all. After canceling the project to build a new futuristic plant in Wolfsburg, where the brand is based, in recent days the company top management has decided to cancel the production of the electric ID.3 to continue to focus above all on endothermic models such as the Golf and the Tiguan. A change in direction that is as sudden as it is evident and is characterizing the industrial plans of many other brands. A very different situation, however, for startups created to follow the expected boom in electric cars, such as the American Fisker or the German e.Go Mobile. Those companies, unable to exploit an endothermic "plan B", are experiencing many problems in obtaining new lines of credit.
IS FISKER AT RISK OF CLOSURE? THE COMPANY'S RESPONSE
“As a matter of company policy, Fisker does not comment on market rumors and speculation. However, Fisker frequently partners with outside consultants to manage its operations and develop and implement strategies.” It is the American company's response to the intensification of rumors that it has already reached the end of the race. News which, if confirmed, would put an end to a beautiful story given that the electric vehicle startup is a small family business, founded by Henrik Fisker and his wife G eeta Gupta-Fisker, capable however of undermining Mercedes in the delivery of the electric Popemobile .
THAT ELECTRIC MOTOR THAT HAS BEEN SWALLOWING FOR A LONG TIME
It has been known for a long time that things are not going well at Fisker. And the strategy to escape from that funnel of costs that are too high and resources that are too limited to satisfy the demand – which is however decreasing – which affected the direct rivals, starting with Rivian, seemed to be to also have third parties produce cars.
As recently as last November, the founder reassured customers and, above all, investors: "We have two cars that are almost ready". These are the quotation marks that Reuters had collected when speaking to the founder and CEO Henrik Fisker. “We can get them to market quickly, we just need the capacity.”
THE FLEE-FLEE AFTER THE WSJ ARTICLE
However, with winter the situation would worsen further. According to the Wall Street Journal , Fisker has even hired restructuring consultants to draft a possible bankruptcy filing. A rumor that risks being a tombstone, with the shares having immediately lost half of their weight up to 47% in the pre-market on Wall Street at 0.32 dollars for 173 million capitalisation.
FISKER'S REPLICA
Dramatic situation, which pushed Fisker to issue the press note in which it assures that it is “focused on raising further capital and starting a strategic partnership with a large car manufacturer. The company also continues to pursue a shift to a dealer partnership model in both North America and Europe. The leadership team is focused on these efforts.”
THE NUMBERS OF THE LAST QUARTER OF 2023
The search for financiers is a must, considering that the last quarter of 2023 closed with a net loss of $463.6 million (1.23 per share). The latest statement dates back to the beginning of the month when Fisker made it known that it wanted to “reduce its workforce by approximately 15%. The reductions in staff are mainly linked to the change in the sales strategy from the direct-to-consumer model to the Dealer Partner model. Additionally, the company is streamlining operations, while also reducing physical footprint and overall expenses.”
NISSAN READY TO RESCUE FISKER?
On that occasion the Danish CEO had expressed serious doubts about continuing the activities given the lack of liquidity. However, at the same time, the former BMW and Aston Martin designer had also made it known that there were contacts with a financier who could also be a manufacturer.
The name of the Japanese Nissan had been circulating in the environment, which in recent days on the electric front has entered into a partnership with its compatriot Honda in order to "further accelerate efforts towards carbon neutrality and the elimination of road accident victims". It remains to be understood first of all whether the indiscretion was true and whether the interest in the American Fisker will survive this new agreement between Japanese brands.
THE CLOSURE OF E.GO MOBILE
However, e.Go Mobile, also known as Next.e.GO Mobile, certainly did not survive, although it had already collected 11 thousand orders for the electric car, yet to be launched on the market, e.wave on tap from the German startup after its market debut in 2017.
Even in this case, reality was unable to find the funds to continue. It was e.Go Mobile itself that spoke about "recent adverse developments and difficulties in the electric vehicle sector", "volatility in the capital markets", "unfavorable market conditions", as causes of distancing potential investors.
PHANTOM AUTO BECOMES A GHOST
Also during the week, another electric car startup died: it was called Phantom Auto, a Californian company founded in 2017 by Elliot Katz, Ohad Dvir and Shai Magzimof working on a technology to allow remote driving of vehicles through 5G and the IoT. As we read on TechCrunch, the innovative reality failed due to a lack of investors interested in keeping the project alive.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/le-auto-elettriche-hanno-la-batteria-scarica-dallamericana-fisker-alla-tedesca-e-go-mobile/ on Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:12:36 +0000.