The high cost of today’s EVs has slowed demand. But there’s one model now priced at just $14,000, making it one of the lowest-priced vehicles on the market. But there is one catch: those 3,000 Fisker Ocean SUVs are being liquidated as part of the automaker’s bankruptcy. Whether you’ll be able to get parts and service going forward is far from certain.
Fisker attempted to save itself with major price cuts. Now, 3,000 unsold Ocean EVs could become some of the cheapest vehicles on the market.
With seemingly no chance to revive the company, the few assets of Fisker Inc. are being liquidated, and that includes 3,000 unsold EVs. Judge Brendan Shannon, who is overseeing the automaker’s bankruptcy, has given the go to sell off 3,000 remaining Ocean SUVs for about $14,000 each to leasing firm American Lease.
Considering that’s less than a third of what Fisker originally was charging for the all-electric Ocean that might seem a real bargain, especially at a time when only a handful of EVs are available for less than $30,000 – and only then after factoring in $7,500 in federal tax credits.
The real concern is whether a buyer would be able to get parts or service going forward. So far, efforts to find a buyer to keep Fisker itself a going concern have run into a dead in.
Fisker goes bust – again
The assets from Henrik Fisker’s first company, Fisker Automotive, resurfaced as Chinese-owned EV-maker Karma.
Launched in 2016 Fisker Inc. was the second effort by Danish designer Henrik Fisker to launch his own car company. His first, Fisker Automotive, was liquidated in 2013, its assets sold to a Chinese manufacturer that brought them back to life as the Karma brand.
The newer company ran into a series of financial setbacks and filed for bankruptcy in June. It initially filed under Chapter 11 which would allow Fisker to reorganize and potentially continue operating. But that would require it to find new backers and, during a hearing before Judge Shannon, Fisker’s chief restructuring officer, John DiDonato, said no white knight has been found. A proposed alliance with Nissan failed to come to fruition earlier this year.
During a hearing on Tuesday, the court was advised that Fisker’s largest — and only — secured lender, Heights Capital Management, plans to file a motion in the coming weeks to convert the bankruptcy filing from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7.
Selling off assets
Fisker didn’t even own an assembly plant. It contracted production of the Ocean to Magna Steyr in Austria.
At this point, about the only option left is to sell off what few assets Fisker has. That doesn’t even include any manufacturing facilities as the automaker took the unusual step of farming out production, turning to Magna Steyr, a contract auto production operation based in Austria, to produce the Ocean.
What Fisker does have are unsold EVs, about 3,000 of them. And, despite the objections of a trustee representing the U.S. government, Judge Shannon tentatively approved the sale of those Fisker Oceans to a vehicle leasing company for about $46 million, or roughly $14,000 apiece.
Exactly what would happen next is uncertain. A report by TechCrunch noted, “One unnamed vehicle manufacturer and an unidentified company that leases vehicles to ride-hail drivers were interested in the fleet after the bankruptcy filing,” but that proposal was “fleeting,” according to DiDonato.
More Fisker News
- Fisker Files for Chapter 11
- Fisker Talks with Nissan Collapse; Bankruptcy Looms
- Consumer Reports Reviews Calls Fisker Ocean “Inexcusable.”
What next?
The big challenge for anyone who might buy or lease leftover Fisker vehicles would be finding parts and service.
Scott Greissman, one of the lawyers for Heights, told the court on Tuesday that, after converting the bankruptcy to Chapter 7, it hopes to liquidate the remaining Fisker assets as quickly and easily as possible.
But exactly what might happen next is uncertain. The U.S. Trustee’s office has resisted Heights’ proposal. And there’s also the fact that Fisker Austria GmbH has filed its own bankruptcy. Observers say the situation could be further complicated by the way the company’s books were allegedly mishandled by Geeta Gupta-Fisker, the wife of Henrik Fisker who served as both chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the bankrupt automaker.
Eventually, those 3,000 Ocean EVs will wind up in someone’s hands. But selling or leasing them could prove challenging. Reviews were uniformly harsh, influential Consumer Reports describing a “bizarre” delivery experience and a “nauseating” ride. It concluded that the electric SUV was “inexcusable.”
For some buyers on a budget, a fire-sale price could overcome such concerns. But the bigger concern is that there are likely to be few available parts and finding service could prove equally difficult.
When and where I can buy it
You’ll have to wait until the bankruptcy process moves forward. They’re not available yet.
I’m interested in buying a fully loaded black exterior and interior.