Fisker Ocean SUV Drives Into Europe Today: Will Sagging Stock's Fortunes Turn Around?

Fisker, Inc‘s FSR moment of glory is within sight as the EV startup gears up to deliver the first Ocean SUV to customers in Europe.

What Happened: Los Angeles, California-based Fisker said in late April the first delivery of the launch edition of the EV will be to reservation holders in Europe will be made on Friday. All Ocean Ones would be delivered by the end of September and some deliveries of Ocean Extreme will start in Europe, with the U.S. to follow, it added.

The company also said that its Ocean SUV received certification from European regulators. The EV also received WLTP certification in Europe that attested to the range of the Extreme trim at 707 km or 440 miles.

While speaking at the Nordic Summit 2023 on Thursday, Henrik Fisker said the first delivery of the Ocean SUV will take place in Denmark on Friday.

The Models: Fisker markets four trims of Ocean SUVs:

• Extreme
• Ultra
• Sport
• One

Sport is the base trim priced at $37,499 and Ultra has a price tag of $49,000.The Extreme and One models are priced at $68,999. Except for Sport, all the other trims are powered by hyper-range batteries and the range. The Extreme and One promise a range of 350 miles, Ultra 340 miles and Sport about 250 miles.

Fisker Inc. is also developing a low-cost affordable city EV called Pear. This EV is expected to launch in 2024 and the starting price will be $29,900, before incentives.

The Ocean SUV could be up against Tesla Inc.'s TSLA Model Y SUV. The base trim of the Model Y following recent series of price adjustments is priced at $47,240.

See Also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks

The Origins: Henrik Fisker, the founder after whom the company is named, is a veteran in vehicle design, having previously worked with automakers including BMW, Ford and U.K. luxury car company Aston Martin.

Fisker, Inc. is his third venture after the automotive design house named Fisker Coachbuild and Fisker Automotive, which manufactured the now-defunct Fisker Karma model. Fisker Automotive unveiled Karma in 2008 and it went into production in Finland in July 2011 and the first vehicle deliveries began in the U.S. the same month.

Weighed down by operational hiccups, issues with batteries, the bankruptcy of its sole Chinese battery supplier and a liquidity crunch, Karma production was suspended in Nov. 2012. Henrik Fisker left the company in March 2013 and the company was sold to Wanxiang Group.

Fisker, along with his wife Geeta Gupta-Fisker launched Fisker, Inc. in 2016. The company went public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company route in October 2020.

Production Plan: Henrik Fisker said on the fourth quarter earnings call that the company's production partner Magna International Inc. MGA is capable of a production rate of 20/day and 100/week. Fisker is looking ahead to a strong ramp in the second quarter.

The company expects to produce 42,400 EVs and deliver 15,800 units in 2023. Magna is serving as a contract manufacturer for Fisker, producing the latter's EVs at its plant in Graz, Austria. Fisker plans to expand its production base to the U.S. and use Hon Hai Precision Manufacturing Company Limited HNHPF as its manufacturing partner.

New reservations and orders total 65,000 units for the Fisker Ocean, it said.

Fisker faces an uphill task as it moves from the pre-revenue to the commercial stage. The external environment is heavily stacked up against the upstart. Demand has weakened so much that even established players such as Tesla are slashing prices.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a late-February note, "We remain fans of the Ocean's design and can't wait to see some more good alternatives to Tesla hitting the road." The analyst, however, sees risk from the increasingly competitive EV environment, slowing auto consumers and tail risk of technological obsolescence in EV manufacturing, battery design,and supporting infrastructure.

The Stock: Post its SPAC merger, Fisker's stock hit a high of $31.96 in March 2021. It is now trading well off the level.

The stock closed Thursday's session up 4.30% at $5.82, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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