Henrik Fisker once visualized a blossoming EV empire at the start-up he named after himself, which was to be led by the Ocean SUV. But fractures started showing in that vision virtually as soon as the Ocean hit the road in 2023
Fisker cut production targets multiple times , failed to satisfy sales goals and laid off staff What’s more, its Sea SUV was besieged with software and mechanical problems , providing it unusable for some. Include troublesome brakes, sudden power loss and doors that would not open to the listing of problems that brought about several safety examinations and eventually a time out in manufacturing in order to increase brand-new funding.
All of this and extra has compelled Fisker to file for Phase 11 bankruptcy defense, noting the start of an unpromising duration for the eponymous startup. Below is a timeline of the occasions that led the automaker to this point. Scroll to the bottom to see the newest developments.
2023
Fisker fell short of its Q 2 production target
July 7 — The automaker produced 1, 022 Sea SUVs in the second quarter of 2023, a number of hundred vehicles short of its assumption of producing between 1, 400 and 1, 700 EVs.
Fisker sold convertible notes to money operations
July 10 — Fisker introduced plans to market $ 340 million in exchangeable financial debt , anticipating the internet profits to be $ 296 7 million. The automaker stated it intended to utilize the funds to support its general corporate procedures and add an added battery pack line to “sustain growth” in 2024 and past. The company stated funds will also be utilized for capital expenditures and the growth of future products.
Production target cut
December 1 — Fisker cut its annual production advice in an effort to maximize $ 300 million in functioning capital. The business said it anticipated to produce concerning 10, 000 vehicles in 2023 The production assistance is just a quarter of Fisker’s bullish projection from a year earlier.
2024
Fisker struggled to meet inner sales goals
January 1 — Fisker remained much from meeting its publicly specified goal of providing 300 electric SUVs daily internationally The EV startup spent a lot of December aiming to meet an interior sales goal of between 100 and 200 automobiles a day in North America, where the bulk of its supply and sales efforts are. Fisker dropped well listed below that target, usually offering just one to two dozen of its Sea SUVs a day below.
Sea SUV checked out over stopping loss problems
January 15 — Federal safety and security regulatory authorities have opened up an examination right into Fisker’s first electrical vehicle over braking issues. Owners had actually lodged 19 grievances with the National Highway Traffic Safety Management (NHTSA) on problems ranging from brake loss to issues with the equipment shifter to a chauffeur door stopping working to open up from the interior and two circumstances of the lorry’s hood all of a sudden flying up on the highway.
Proprietors had flagged unexpected power loss and brake problems for months
February 9 — Since the preliminary fleet of Fisker Ocean SUVs were supplied, consumers have actually reported greater than 100 separate loss-of-power occurrences The firm told TechCrunch it believes these problems are uncommon which it has actually settled “almost all the concerns” with software application updates. Customers have actually also reported unexpected loss of braking power, problematic essential fobs triggering them to get secured inside or beyond the lorry, seat sensors that don’t find the driver’s existence and the SUV’s front hood unexpectedly flying up at broadband.
Feds opened up second probe right into the Ocean SUV after rollaway problems
February 16 — The NHTSA opened a second examination right into Fisker’s Ocean SUV after the agency got 4 complaints regarding the automobile rolling away suddenly, resulting in one injury. The business informed TechCrunch it is “totally complying” with the security firm.
Fisker laid off 15 % of team
February 29 — Fisker revealed its plan to give up 15 % of its labor force and says it likely does not have enough cash money available to endure the following 12 months. The company says it is trying to find a means to increase that cash as it works through a pivot from straight sales to a car dealership model.
Pause in manufacturing with just $ 121 million in the financial institution
March 18 — Fisker announced it would certainly stop manufacturing of its electric Ocean SUV for 6 weeks as it scrambles for a cash mixture. The firm stated in a governing declaring that it had simply $ 121 million in cash money and cash money matchings since March 15, $ 32 million of which is limited or not right away obtainable. Fisker likewise stated that its accounts payable balance depends on $ 182 million which there is “significant doubt” that it can continue procedures without increasing brand-new funding.
Fisker lost Nissan deal, putting rescue funds in danger
March 25 — The settlements between Fisker and a large automaker– reported to be Nissan– over a potential investment and partnership were ended , a development that puts a separate near-term rescue financing effort at risk. Fisker revealed in a regulatory declaring that the automaker terminated the negotiations March 22 It did not clarify why. However the business needed to keep the negotiations going as part of among the closing problems for a prospective $ 150 million convertible note
Trading suspended by NYSE
March 25 — The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading shares of Fisker and relocated to take the business off its stock market, due to the fact that it is “no more suitable for providing” as a result of “extraordinarily reduced” price levels.
Fisker lost track of countless dollars in customer payments for months
March 27 — Fisker briefly lost track of numerous bucks in customer settlements as it scaled up shipments, resulting in an inner audit that began in December and took months to finish. Fisker battled to maintain tabs on these deals, that included down payments and in some cases, the complete rate of the lorries, as a result of lax inner procedures for tracking them, according to 3 individuals accustomed to the inner settlement dilemma. In a few cases, it delivered vehicles without collecting any kind of form of repayment whatsoever, they said.
New round of layoffs to ‘maintain money’
April 29 — Fisker laid off more workers to “protect cash money,” making great on a plan announced one week before , according to an internal email checked out by TechCrunch. Fisker anticipates to seek personal bankruptcy protection within the next 30 days if it can not develop that cash, according to an U.S. Stocks and Exchange Commission governing declaring.
Fisker stiffed design company
May 3 — Fisker stopped paying the design firm that aided create the Pear, an inexpensive EV meant for the masses, and the Alaska, Fisker’s access into the red-hot pickup truck market. The firm additionally accuses Fisker of wrongfully holding on to IP connected with those vehicles.
Fisker Ocean faced 4th government safety and security probe
May 10 — The NHTSA opened up a fourth investigation right into the Fisker Ocean SUV to penetrate numerous cases of “unintended Automatic Emergency Braking.” The 8 issues declare that owners experienced sudden activation of the Automatic Emergency Braking system in moments where there were nothing else lorries or blockages in the path of their automobiles.
Hundreds of workers reduced to maintain EV start-up to life
May 29 — Hundreds extra workers were given up during the final week of May in a bid to survive, as the automaker continues to search for financing, a buyout or prepare for insolvency. One current and one given up worker estimated that only concerning 150 people remained at the business.
Inside Fisker’s collapse
May 31 — The road to Fisker’s best destroy might have started and ended with its problematic Ocean SUV, which was filled with mechanical and software application issues. However it was led with hubris, power battles, and the repeated failure to establish standard processes that are fundamental for any kind of car manufacturer.
Sea SUV provided very first recall
June 12 — Fisker provided the initial recall for the Ocean SUV as a result of problems with the warning lights, according to new information published by the NHTSA. The cockpit console presents the brake, park and anti-skid brakes system warning lights in the incorrect font style dimension and, at times, in the wrong color, making them noncompliant with Federal Automobile Security Specifications. The company additionally claims “numerous warning lights fall short to light up throughout the ignition cycle.”
Fisker applied for personal bankruptcy
June 18 — After a year of battling to stay afloat, Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection The California-based firm had been looking for a deal with another automaker in a last-ditch effort to rescue the venture. The company approximated properties of $ 500 million to $ 1 billion and obligations of between $ 100 million and $ 500 million, according to the filing.
Fisker stopped working since it wasn’t ready to be an automobile business
June 18 — Following its personal bankruptcy , Fisker stated it will certainly proceed “lowered operations,” consisting of “preserving client programs, and making up needed suppliers on a go-forward basis.” Simply put, it will continue to take care of a simplistic procedure in instance there is a prepared customer of the properties it’s putting up for sale in the Phase 11 situation.
Fisker dealt with financial distress as very early as August 2023
June 21 — According to a brand-new declaring in its Chapter 11 insolvency case, Fisker was dealing with “prospective financial distress” as early as August 2023 That looming financial distress drove Fisker to solicit a partnership or investment from another car manufacturer, according to the declaring.
The contest Fisker’s properties is already warming up
June 21 — The fight over Fisker’s assets is currently charged simply days into its insolvency declaring, with one legal representative asserting the startup has actually been selling off assets “outside the court’s guidance.” At issue is the connection in between Fisker and its largest protected lender, which loaned Fisker more than $ 500 million in 2023 at once when the company’s monetary distress was looming behind the scenes.
Fisker asks bankruptcy court to offer EVs for about $ 14 K each
July 3– If a court in the Delaware Insolvency Court accepts Fisker’s request to sell its staying supply to a New York-based automobile renting firm, the automaker would certainly be able to offload 3, 231 finished EVs for $ 46 25 million, or around $ 14, 000 per vehicle.
Henrik Fisker, Geeta Gupta-Fisker drop incomes to $ 1
July 9– Henrik Fisker and his spouse, Fisker founder Geeta Gupta-Fisker, are lowering their salaries to $ 1 in order to maintain their stopped working EV startup’s personal bankruptcy proceedings moneyed. Along with the income decreases, Fisker’s restructuring policeman, John DiDonato, claimed in Tuesday’s declaring that Fisker will certainly postpone “particular severance repayments, certain employee healthcare advantages, and vehicle sale incentive perks” that have not yet been paid.
Fisker has one significant objector to its Sea SUV firesale
July 15– The office of the united state Trustee, an arm of the Department of Justice that manages the management of personal bankruptcy, is challenging a deal that would certainly maintain Fisker’s bankruptcy case alive and pave the way for paying back creditors a few of what they’re owed.
Fisker got rid of to sell North American EVs for $ 46 25 million
July 16– A bankruptcy judge offered Fisker the green light to sell more than 3, 000 of its Ocean SUVs to a car leasing firm, which will net the obsolete EV start-up an optimum of $ 46 25 million. The authorization of the sale removes the means for the remainder of Fisker’s personal bankruptcy process to play out as it remains to liquidate what’s left of its failed organization.
The question haunting Fisker’s bankruptcy
July 29– The inquiry people are asking: does the car manufacturer’s loan secured lending institution Levels Funding Monitoring deserve to be at the front of the line to enjoy the profits of a liquidation? The entities got to a contract to establish a settlement in the coming weeks on how to liquidate its possessions. If effective, the instance might continue to be in Chapter 11 If not, it would convert to Phase 7, which would efficiently dissolve Fisker forever.
Fisker turns on that will pay for remembers
September 18– One of the several questions Fisker proprietors had as the business worked through the insolvency procedure was exactly how the impressive recalls would be handled. In mid-September, the company all of a sudden recommended that it would certainly cover the price of components, however that those owners would certainly have to pay out of pocket for labor prices. Just as all of a sudden, Fisker turned , saying it would cover labor prices.
The SEC opens an investigation
October 4– The U.S. Stocks and Exchange Payment exposed in a declaring that it opened an examination into Fisker, which it could bring activities “affirming offenses of the federal safeties legislations.” The economic regulator informed the insolvency court that it currently sent numerous subpoenas, but was worried Fisker really did not have a strategy in place to protect its documents. (The insolvent EV start-up eventually lessened the SEC’s concerns, and the condition of the probe is unknown.)
Fisker’s HQ deserted in ‘total disarray’
October 5– The landlord of Fisker HQ’s last relaxing area– a center in La Palma, California– claims the structure was abandoned in “complete chaos,” with hazardous waste and also full-size vehicle clay designs left behind The property owner’s filing describes an unpleasant few days in which, apparently, Fisker staff members along with reps of an auction house emptied the facility.
The DOJ states Fisker’s recall fixing strategy is unlawful
October 7– The U.S. Department of Justice, creating in support of the National Highway Website Traffic Safety And Security Management, tells the personal bankruptcy court it assumes Fisker’s effort to press recall labor prices on proprietors is unlawful. The objection ultimately assists transform Fisker’s mind a last time.
Fisker’s fleet purchaser balks at finishing the sale
October 8– Fisker throws a significant curveball at the personal bankruptcy court, after it told American Lease it did not believe it would have the ability to move necessary data to a new, non-Fisker web server. American Lease revealed the snag in a declaring and told the court that it might not have the ability to complete the sale– which would endanger Fisker’s settlement strategy with its financial institutions.
Fisker’s bankruptcy plan verified
October 16– Fisker had the ability to settle the flurry of eleventh-hour issues explained above and get its liquidation plan verified by the bankruptcy court. The company turned around training course and agreed to cover the labor prices of its recalls. It exercised a solution with American Lease relating to the transfer of vehicle information. And a trustee was assigned to supervise the sale of the remainder of Fisker’s non-vehicle properties, including around $ 1 billion worth of equipment left in Austria, where the Oceans were developed.
2025
Henrik Fisker silently unwind his not-for-profit
Henrik Fisker and his other half Geeta (who was likewise CFO and COO of the business) developed a philanthropic foundation in late 2021 implied to “breed development in health care, education and learning, sustainability, flexibility, and all triggers that aid support the planet and enhance and further the lives of people and animals.”
However an evaluation of tax obligation filings with the IRS show the foundation never ever handed out greater than around $ 100, 000, and has since been shut down. Both wound down the nonprofit , according to tax filings that were made public in 2025