Written byZhou Zhou.
EditZhang Linyu.
DesignDivision Chao.
Automotive News by Laurence Iliff
In order to survive, Fisker, a new force in electric vehicles in the United States, began to rely on the power of dealers.
At the beginning of January, Fisker announced that in order to boost sales in the United States and European markets, it will change its marketing model and change from direct sales to a dealer model.
This new force, which used to start a business in Silicon Valley at the same time as Tesla, has gone through ups and downs, Tesla has become a direct giant shark, and Fisker is still a small fish struggling to survive.
The immortal "Little Fish" has recently changed the direct sales model commonly used by the new forces, adopting the dealer model used by traditional car companies, and has decided to open three new dealerships, namely Ourisman Fisker in Los Angeles, Maryland, Classic Fisker in Atlanta, and Long Island Fisker in New York. Fisker also plans to open another dealership in New Jersey.
Fisker said the first two dealerships were signed at the NADA Show in early February, while the latter was identified in mid-February.
In late January, Fisker signed with Mills Automotive Group, a long-established North Carolina-based car dealership, to open three more new stores, one of which will be in South Carolina.
Founded in 1922, Mills Motor Group is a family-owned company with more than 20 dealerships in six states in the United States, including not only the three largest automobiles in the United States, but also foreign car brands such as Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Honda.
According to Fisker, the first batch of dealers will sell their products in seven dealerships in six states. CEO Henrik Fisker said: "We are very pleased to see the rapid development of the dealer model, which has a good relationship with customers in their communities for generations, which is an important guarantee for the future of electric vehicle sales." ”
Fisker hopes to sign more dealers in the future. According to the new force, more than 250 distributors in North America and Europe have expressed interest and interest in the Fisker brand.
In 2023, Fisker produced more than 10,000 Ocean cars and delivered 4,700 units. Ocean starts at $38,999 and shipping and handling fees are $2,438.
Compared to the 1.81 million deliveries of its rival Tesla in 2023, Fisker's deliveries are as small as a shrimp.
In fact, Fisker and Tesla have a lot of connections. The founder, Henrik Fiske, is a well-known car designer, who has led the design of a series of famous cars such as BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9, V8 Vantage, etc., and also participated in the early design of Tesla Model S.
In 2007, Henrik Fisker made his first start, Fisker Automotive, and launched its first model, the Karma range-extender hybrid supercar. In 2011, the extended-range rear-drive electric car KARMA was officially launched, positioned as a luxury electric vehicle, with a basic price of up to 9$590,000, celebrities such as Justin Bieber became the first owners. Relying on celebrity effect and environmental protection, the Karma sports car was once considered a strong opponent of Tesla.
Like Tesla, Karma was also mired in battery failures and spontaneous combustion. In 2011, Karma recalled delivered vehicles and dealer inventory three times due to the risk of spontaneous combustion caused by refrigerant leakage and cooling fan failure.
At the end of 2012, Typhoon Sandy on the east coast of the United States destroyed 338 Karma units that were ready to go, and as a result, the insurance company was only willing to pay $33 million, which was 1 3 of the $100 million expected by Fisker, and Fisker later sued the insurance company.
After a series of tosses and turns, including design flaws, manufacturing delivery issues, and unexpected events, Fisker filed for bankruptcy in November 2013. Li Ka-shing and his son bid for Fisker with Chinese auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group, which later became a successful owner.
Karma's batteries are manufactured by A123, which later became a subsidiary of Wanxiang Group.
Fisker is also a partner of Foxconn's parent company, Hon Hai Group, in fact, it chose Hon Hai for OEM production.
In May 2021, Hon Hai Group and Fisker signed a framework agreement to jointly produce the first Fisker U.S.-made electric vehicle, which was originally scheduled to go into production in the fourth quarter of 2023 but was postponed to the first half of 2025. Based on the MIH platform architecture, the two companies will jointly develop the FP28 lightweight platform, and combine the technical expertise of both parties to invest in the PEAR (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution) project and other potential future models.
Fisker, which has a production capacity of just over 10,000 units, is also actively planning to enter the Chinese market. In 2022, Fisker opened an office in China.
In October 2023, Fisker's official website announced that it would open its first sales experience store in Shanghai, China, to promote its business layout in the Chinese market. The first experience store will be located on Taicang Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, and is expected to officially open in December 2023 or January 2024. There is no latest news yet.
On November 13, 2023, Fisker reported third-quarter earnings with revenue of $71.8 million and a loss of $91 million, missing Wall Street's expectations.
Fisker said in May 2023 that it was targeting production of 320,000-360,000 units, down by 20,000-2 units in August30,000 units, but only more than 10,000 vehicles.
Fisker said that its order demand is strong and its delivery capacity needs to be increased, aiming to increase the daily delivery volume to 300 vehicles.