Fisker, an EV company, is delaying Ocean SUV manufacturing for six weeks to raise funds.
It reported $121 million in cash and cash equivalents on March 15th, $32 million of which was restricted or unavailable, in a Monday morning regulatory filing. After threatening to issue a warning in February, Fisker said Monday that its accounts payable amount is $182 million and that there is "substantial doubt" that it can continue operations without new financing.
The startup went public in 2020 after merging with a special purpose acquisition company. The filing comes at a difficult time. Fisker began distributing the Ocean SUV in the U.S. and Europe in mid-2023, but TechCrunch reported software issues and poor customer service. The Ocean is under investigation by the NHTSA for rollaway and braking difficulties. In February, Fisker let off 15% of its workers, or 200 people.
About 5,000 of Magna Steyr's 10,000 automobiles were shipped by Fisker in 2023. On Monday, the company reported delivering 1,300 automobiles in January and February and having 5,000 in the U.S. and Europe.
Though one of the startup's initial dozen dealer partners has left, it's aiming to switch from direct sales to dealer relationships. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that it recruited restructuring advisors to consider bankruptcy.
Relief may be scarce. Even Fisker, which outsources much of its automotive manufacture to Magna, finds it pricey. Even though Magna manufactured zero cars in January and just 1,000 since February 1 -- numbers Fisker shared for the first time on Monday morning—it nonetheless emptied its cash reserves by $200 million over the last 11 weeks.
Fisker announced Monday that it is in talks with Nissan about a cooperation that might bring an investment. Fisker announced Monday that it is selling convertible notes to raise $150 million. That arrangement with an unknown investor is not final, and $35 million will be released in tranches under certain circumstances.
Fisker also announced that company filed its 2023 annual results late, missing the SEC's 15-day extension that ended March 15. It caused a default in another convertible note of the company. The investor behind those notes has waived the default, but Fisker says they can still convert the remaining $300 million in notes into shares as of late January.
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