Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
In February, renowned tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, released a video titled “This is the worst car I’ve ever reviewed,” critiquing the Fisker Ocean SUV. The video quickly went viral, amassing 5.7 million views.
Shares of electric vehicle maker Fisker plummeted over 55% on the OTC market earlier today, falling below $0.02 and bringing year-to-date losses to nearly 99%.
Two months after the initial review, Brownlee published a follow-up video reviewing the Fisker Ocean again, this time with the latest software version, which addressed some of the bugs he had previously highlighted. Despite these updates, the complaints from owners have continued over the last months.
The situation for Fisker worsened when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Monday. In response to the news, Brownlee took to X to comment on Fisker’s fate.
“RIP. I know everyone’s commenting that I killed them, but truth is they were doomed long before any of my videos. It’s sad news because we (always) need more competition in the EV space. But this one never made it over the hill,” Brownlee stated.
The company stated that “faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently”.
On late Monday, the company co-founded by the automotive designer Henrik Fisker disclosed that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of Delaware on June 17.
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Fisker is currently in advanced negotiations with financial stakeholders concerning debtor-in-possession financing and the sale of its assets, according to a company statement.
The bankruptcy filing reveals that Fisker’s assets are valued between $500 million and $1 billion, with liabilities ranging from $100 million to $500 million. This filing provides Fisker with protection from creditors as it formulates a plan to repay its debts.
Over the last months, Fisker was taking drastic measures to avoid bankruptcy, including significant workforce reductions. A major layoff was recently announced to U.S. employees and was swiftly extended to Canadian operations, leaving the company with a minimal staff.
Henrik Fisker, co-founder and CEO of the struggling EV company, is set to speak at the Economic Times Auto Summit for the first time on Thursday, June 20. This keynote, titled “Engineering Sustainable Vehicles and Cleaner Mobility,” will mark the first public event where the chief executive talks since trouble escalated in the company.
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The company filed an 8K form filed two weeks ago revealed that the company had defaulted on its senior secured note due in 2024.
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.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
