Fisker, the California-based EV startup, has cut its annual production guidance in an effort to free up $300 million in working capital, the company said in a business briefing on Friday.
Fisker said it expects to produce about 10,000 vehicles this year. The decision comes less than a month after Fisker lowered its production target to 13,000 to 17,000 vehicles for 2023. The production guidance is just a quarter of Fisker’s upward forecast from a year ago. In November 2022, Fisker said it planned to produce 42,400 Ocean SUVs by the end of 2023 due to strong demand in the US and Europe. That rosy projection was cut in May to 32,000-36,000 vehicles and then cut again in August to 20,000-23,000 vehicles. This latest update makes four reductions since spring.
The production cut will allow the company to access $300 million in working capital, giving the company “flexibility,” according to the business briefing.
“Our teams have worked hard to overcome some on-time delivery challenges and are now setting an impressive pace as we prepare to close out 2023,” chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement. “We may not have hit our initial forecast, but given the current market conditions and negative sentiment around EV sales, I’d say we’re doing pretty well as we continue to accelerate sales and deliveries. This brings in significant revenue as we grow our business. I expect that by the end of this year we will have delivered more customer cars than any Western EV startup did in its first year of deliveries. The company continues to sharpen its focus on growing its current markets and strengthening our sales and service offerings for Fisker Ocean.”
said Fischer in his business update that it has also launched a new strategy to improve deliveries in the US and Europe, which has helped it overcome early logistics hurdles. While Fisker didn’t specify exactly what those challenges were, it appears the strategy includes adding more logistics companies to speed up deliveries, increased outreach to reservation holders, and opening more facilities dedicated to retail, deliveries and services.
The company said it is also starting a leasing program in the US, Canada and Europe, but did not include details on when that might happen.
Fisker also provided an update on hiring, most notably Dan Quirk as the new executive vice president of finance and accounting. The hiring comes after Fisker lost two chief accounting officers in short succession and delayed filing its quarterly earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other hires include Axel Buhr as vice president of finance and controller operations, Ram Iyer as senior vice president of EE integration and validation, and Wolfgang Hoffmann as country manager in Canada, where Fisker is set to begin deliveries.
