Fisker Files for Bankruptcy in Austria and Production Has Stopped

There is a growing feeling Fisker is in jeopardy as the automaker’s Austrian division filed for bankruptcy protection overnight.

In a statement, Fisker said its Austrian branch had “voluntarily requested the opening of restructuring proceedings under self-administration.”

Business publications suggest that this period of home rule is similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.

The automaker claims that this move will allow Fisker Austria to pay its employees and “continue to deliver its vehicles to customers, provide services, and update its over-the-air software to the extent possible.”

At the beginning of the week, Magna Steyr, the Austrian contract manufacturer that is building the Ocean crossover for Fisker, confirmed Automotive News It had laid off 500 workers at its factory in Graz.

Magna said this is partly because production of the Ocean has been officially “shut down” since March. The production pause was enacted to allow Fisker to clear remaining inventory of the electric crossover, which was recently discounted by $24,000 ($36,500).

A quick search on Fisker’s website shows numerous available cars, with prices slashed from around $62,000 ($94,200) to around $38,000 ($57,800).

Magna CEO Swamy Kotagiri said in a recent earnings conference call: “Our current outlook issued today assumes there will be no further production [of the Fisker Ocean]“.

A number of other cars, including the BMW 5 Series, Jaguar E-Pace and Jaguar I-Pace, will also cease production in Graz by the end of 2024.

Fisker and Magna originally wanted to build 23,000 Oceans every year. In 2023, Magna built around 10,000 Oceans.

In its April filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Fisker said it had about $50 million ($76 million) in cash and recently missed a debt payment deadline have. The company warned that it could go out of business within 30 days if it cannot find additional financing or an investor.

Fisker also sent a “conditional notice” to its U.S. employees saying they could lose their jobs by the end of June if rescue efforts are unsuccessful.

At the end of March, Nissan reportedly withdrew from talks to save Fisker. Under this plan, Nissan would have invested $400 million ($608 million) in Fisker and manufactured the Fisker Alaska ute and a Nissan spin-off at one of its North American plants.

If Fisker as a whole goes bankrupt, it would be the second time that an automaker founded by car designer Henrik Fisker has gone under.

His previous company, Fisker Automotive, which made the Karma plug-in hybrid sedan, went bust in 2013 and its assets were sold to Chinese automotive supplier Wanxiang, which renamed the vehicle the Karma Revero.