Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Henrik Fisker, co-founder and CEO of electric vehicle startup Fisker, is set to speak at the Economic Times Auto Summit for the first time on Thursday, June 20.
This highly anticipated appearance comes as the company faces severe financial difficulties, including mass layoffs and halted production, in a desperate bid to stave off bankruptcy.
An 8K form filed last week revealed that the company has defaulted on its senior secured note due in 2024.
The keynote, titled “Engineering Sustainable Vehicles and Cleaner Mobility,” will be closely watched by shareholders and owners eager for updates on the company’s direction.
The chief executive will speak directly after Tata Motors Executive, fueling speculation about a potential partnership that could provide a lifeline for the struggling startup. Rumors of such a collaboration have been circulating, suggesting it might be a critical move to save Fisker from impending bankruptcy.
Last week, Tata Motors held its annual investor day where it shared that aims to increase its addressable market to 80 percent with the lanch of Cruvv and Sierra models.
Additionally, the group mentioned that “additional nameplates in new segments and powertrains” will also contribute to the increase of the addressable market.
The keynote from Fisker’s CEO will be immediately followed by a Q&A session, marking the first opportunity for public questioning of the CEO since the company’s troubles escalated.
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The company announced last week that it is issuing two voluntary recalls affecting more than 11,000 vehicles in North America and Europe due to software-related issues.
The first one affects 11,201 vehicles across Europe, U.S. and Canada while the second one impacts 6,864 in the U.S. and 281 in Canada. The startup will send out an over-the-air update to version OS 2.1 to address both issues until the end of the month.
Fisker has recently sent an email to its employees offering the Fisker Ocean in its Extreme and Ultra variants at a special price of $20,000. The promotional email highlighted that some of the vehicles may be previously titled and mentioned additional fees associated with the purchase.
Fisker registered 44 units of the Ocean SUV during the month of may in the United Kingdom, according to the official data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
In Germany, Fisker sold sold 12 vehicles in Germany in May, a significant drop from the 30 units sold in April, according to official data released on Wednesday.
Fisker delivered 24 cars and a total of 80 in the first quarter of the year. Fisker’s year-to-date sales in the country now total 122 units as of the end of May.
NEVER MISS AN UPDATE
On March 18, the EV startup reported having approximately 4,700 vehicles in inventory as demand didn’t meet the management expectations in 2023.
Last weekend, the co-founder and CEO, Henrik Fisker, and CFO Geeta Fisker made their first public appearance this year. The couple attended the launch party of “Danish Originals” in Los Angeles on Saturday, as reported by the organization on LinkedIn.
Fisker has been taking drastic measures to avoid bankruptcy, including significant workforce reductions. A major layoff was announced to U.S. employees last Thursday and was swiftly extended to Canadian operations, leaving the company with a minimal staff.
In Belgium, the Fisker Center+ in Rumst was closed on June 1, although the company remains a tenant of the location and is negotiating a buyout deal while seeking solutions to reopen the facility.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
