Fisker: two EV companies, two bankruptcies, and the cost of unfinished software
Henrik Fisker's second EV company outsourced manufacturing of its Ocean SUV to Magna. Deliveries began in 2023, but software problems, recalls, and safety investigations hurt sales, a rescue partnership with Nissan collapsed, and it filed for bankruptcy in June 2024 — eleven years after his first EV company failed.
- Primary cause: Technology didn't deliver
- Ran out of runway
- Lost customer trust
- Founded
- 2016
- Ended
- 2024
- Headquarters
- United States
- Sector
- Mobility & EV
- Capital raised
- ~$1B via 2020 SPAC, plus later debt
What happened
Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 in June 2024. An earlier company, Fisker Automotive, had gone bankrupt in 2013.
What Fisker was
Henrik Fisker, a designer known for cars at BMW and Aston Martin, co-founded Fisker Automotive in 2007. Its Karma plug-in hybrid suffered when its battery supplier went bankrupt and Hurricane Sandy destroyed hundreds of cars at a port; that company failed in 2013.
Fisker Inc., founded in 2016, went public via SPAC in 2020 and contracted Magna to build its Ocean in Austria. After a troubled launch in 2023, sales slowed, investigations and recalls followed, and talks with Nissan collapsed in 2024. It filed for Chapter 11 that June.
Why it failed
- 1
A software-defined car with unfinished software
Early Ocean deliveries had widespread software problems affecting important functions, leading to harsh reviews and regulatory investigations.
- 2
Outsourcing didn't remove the hard parts
Contract manufacturing cut capital costs, but Fisker still owned software, service, sales, and quality — exactly where it struggled.
- 3
A capital-hungry business in a rising-rate market
With EV prices falling, interest rates high, and unsold inventory piling up, Fisker couldn't raise money or close a partnership in time.
The product lesson
Modern cars are software products on wheels, and customers judge them like phones: if the software isn't finished, the product isn't. A late launch costs less than a damaged brand. Outsourcing manufacturing changes your risks; it doesn't remove them.
Early warning sign to watch for
The company ships to customers while planning to fix core functions with over-the-air updates later.
Compiled from public reporting, court records, and company statements. Figures are approximate. Where legal proceedings are mentioned, convictions are described as convictions and charges as allegations. Corrections welcome at hello@productmanagement.space.