Fisker Built Over 10,000 Ocean EVs In 2023. It Delivered Less Than Half

The company expects to deliver the unsold cars in the first quarter of this year with help from dealers.

2023 Fisker Ocean

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Jan 26, 2024 at 11:00am ET

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Fisker, the California-based EV startup that makes the Ocean SUV, built over 10,000 cars last year but delivered fewer than half as it struggled with its direct sales approach, according to Reuters.

The undelivered cars, most of which have been largely paid for by the customers, have a value of about $290 million, the company said. In total, roughly 4,700 Ocean SUVs were delivered last year, but the EV maker expects to move all of the remaining inventory in the first quarter of 2024 as it pivots to a dealer-partner model.

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Direct sales failed for Fisker as inventory piled up in 2023

Fisker failed to deliver more than half the cars it built last year. The automaker said it plans on emptying the inventory by the end of the first quarter in 2024 with help from dealers, in addition to the direct sales approach it used until now.

This isn’t exactly great news for the American EV startup that manufactures its vehicles under contract in Austria. Previously, the Henrik Fisker-led automaker cut production output in December of last year to prioritize liquidity and slashed its production guidance several times in 2023.

Gallery: 2023 Fisker Ocean

2023 Fisker Ocean

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"I discovered that in this current situation, with high interest rates, [expensive] real estate, and getting people trained is much more difficult. I think we just went that route because everyone does when you are a startup," Fisker said. "I went to my accounting department and asked what is the cost of selling a car? We decided we would rather give that money to a dealer so that we could expand faster," he added for Automotive News.

To jumpstart its dealer franchise experiment, the California startup said it will host dealers at its headquarters in Manhattan Beach next week and several execs will make an appearance at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) show in early February to try and convince dealers to sell Fisker EVs.

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