Fisker, Which Won't Begin Production Until Late 2022, Says It's Not Hit By Chip Shortage

Fisker Inc FSR CEO Henrik Fisker said on Wednesday the electric vehicle automaker will not be affected by the semiconductor chip shortage issue.

What Happened: The California-based company has no sales or cars in production yet and its first electric vehicle launch is in late next year.

"NO Chip shortage at Fisker!," the company’s co-founder proclaimed in a tweet, adding that its strategy to develop software in-house and a CTO from the chip industry will help it skip the queue.

The EV maker competes with Tesla Inc TSLA, a company that once employed Henrik Fisker and even sued him over design secrets, and plans to begin production of its Ocean SUV at its European vehicle assembly facility in late 2022. 

Fisker explained that the carmaker has lined up suppliers ahead of the next year’s launch and they are on target to deliver the company’s requirements. 

If you have to start production next year (like we do) you need to have all this figured out way ahead of time and lined up you'd suppliers!! That's the point! And, we have done exactly that! pic.twitter.com/Lyy0SlBJjx

— Henrik Fisker (@henrikfisker) May 6, 2021

The company is also developing a more affordable, sub-$30,000 electric vehicle that it plans to launch by the end of 2023 with the help of Apple Inc AAPL supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd HNHPF. 

Why It Matters: The comments come at a time when automakers around the globe are struggling with chip supplies and have been forced to halt production on a rolling basis.

Fisker has been sharing preorder numbers for the Ocean SUV. In April he claimed Ocean SUV has scored over 15,000 bookings. 

Passed 15,000 reservations for the Ocean! Enough said! see conditions for reservations on https://t.co/ywdczefXB1 if any questions. #Fisker #Love #EVs #ESG #ClimateAction pic.twitter.com/KADlboIuGl

— Henrik Fisker (@henrikfisker) April 15, 2021

CNBC's Jim Cramer late last year compared Fisker CEO with Nikola Corp’s NKLA former Executive Chairman Trevor Milton who had stepped down after short-seller allegations, highlighting the risk of investing in EV startups that have no production or sales.

Price Action: Fisker shares closed 5% lower at $11.37 on Wednesday and were down 0.9% in after-hours trading.

Photo: Courtesy of Fisker