Fisker in talks with Nissan over £316 million rescue package

American electric car start-up Fisker is thrashing out a financial rescue package with Nissan that will allow it to continue building cars. According to a report by Reuters, a deal between the two brands would see Nissan invest around £315 million in return for access to Fisker’s Kayak electric-pick up and a signifiant stake in the company. 

Last month, Fisker revealed that it might not be able to continue as a going concern without further investment and confirmed that it was planning to cut its workforce by 15 percent as it wrangled heavy losses. In a statement to shareholders, boss Henrik Fisker said that current resources were ‘insufficient’ to cover the next 12 months. Last year, Fisker posted a loss of £365 million, despite the first Ocean models reaching customers. Despite the job cuts, Fisker still plans to deliver up to 22,000 Ocean worldwide in 2024. 

The Ocean has endured a difficult launch with reports of buggy software and hardware faults affecting early models. The SUV is built for Fisker by Canadian firm Magna-Steyr at a factory in Austria. According to Fisker’s figures, 10,193 cars rolled off the production line in 2023, but only 4,929 were delivered to customers due to logistic constraints.

Earlier this year, Fisker confirmed that it was abandoning its direct sales only approach and will appoint traditional dealers in a bid to make the brand more prominent. Fisker currently has just two outlets in the UK, one at Westfield Shopping centre in west London and a second in Milton Keynes.

Uncertainty over Fisker’s future has led to a collapse of the brand’s share price, which has fallen by 93% in the last six months. Work has also been suspended on the PEAR compact car until fresh investment has been secured. 

Fisker Ocean is produced in Austria by contract manufacturer Magna-Steyr. Fisker still hopes to sell up to 22,000 models in 2024