The hits keep coming as the EV startup struggles to survive.
Key Takeaways
- Over 40,000 pre-orders have been canceled since November 2019.
- Reservations are being lost at a rate of 70 to 80 units every day.
- The timing couldn’t be worse as Fisker struggles to raise cash.
The cookie continues to crumble for Fisker as customers cancel pre-orders at an alarming rate. Over half of its pre-orders since November 2019 have evaporated. That’s 40,000 vehicles that it’s not selling after all.
Total reservations for the Ocean were once as high as 70,000 units, but the number continues to slip. Fisker is losing reservations at a rate of about 70 to 80 per day. The timing comes as the company is doing whatever it can to raise more cash.
So Many Refunds
It’s not just a matter of losing the money that the customer would have paid once the sale was final. Each canceled reservation means Fisker loses money on the spot, since the $250 reservation fee is refundable aside from a $25 processing fee. Additionally, the company had booking issues that led to the delivery of some cars without payment, another hit to their cash flow.
Related
Fisker Delivered Some Cars Without Getting Paid
Sloppy bookkeeping had Fisker scrambling to collect what it was owed.
Then there’s the matter of a few thousand canceled orders, which are a bit different than reservations. Once a car is ordered, the accompanying deposit of $5,000 is not refundable. This lets Fisker keep hold of some cash, but still reduces its overall cash flow. That customers are willing to lose that much money when they cancel shows just how little faith they have in the future of the company.
Mounting Problems
Total Fisker Ocean deliveries to date are at 6,000 units since it started shipping in June of last year. Customers experienced a variety of problems, including a loss of power that made the vehicle undriveable and eroded confidence in the brand.
The news for Fisker is getting worse by the day at this point. It had to dramatically cut prices of the Ocean to under $25,000 to clear existing inventory. It also paused production for six weeks while securing $150 million in funding. Hopes for a deal with another automaker fell through in the midst of the scramble for cash all making the chances of Fisker’s survival even more questionable.
