Now US parent company too

Electric car start-up Fisker is finally bankrupt

The Fisker Ocean has not been produced in Graz for some time - now the US company has also gone bankrupt.

(Bild: Fisker)

Following the bankruptcy of its Graz-based subsidiary, the US company is now also insolvent: the US electric car start-up Fisker filed for bankruptcy on Monday evening. Negotiations with a major car manufacturer had previously failed.

At the beginning of May, restructuring proceedings under self-administration had already been opened in Graz for Fisker's Austrian subsidiary. Now the US parent company has filed for "Chapter 11 bankruptcy", with assets of around 500 million to one billion dollars (467 to 934 million euros) and liabilities of between 100 million and 500 million dollars, according to the competent court.

Fisker had already announced the failure of talks with an unnamed car manufacturer in February. Reuters had learned from insiders that the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan had been in advanced negotiations with Fisker about a financial injection.

The Los Angeles-based company, which was founded by Danish car designer Henrik Fisker, has been experiencing for some time that the sale of its vehicles is proving more difficult than originally planned. Added to this is the general slowdown in demand for electric cars and more difficult access to capital in times of higher interest rates.

Graz subsidiary with immense backlogs
According to KSV1870, the Graz-based company has liabilities amounting to an incredible 1.34 billion euros (book value), while its assets are said to be 959 million euros.

According to KSV 1870, the applicant is currently unable to maintain its solvency with the liquidity inflows generated by its own business. This is due not least to a sharp decline in global demand for electric vehicles, high interest rates and price wars between various electric car manufacturers.

47 employees and more than 600 creditors
"Despite extensive restructuring efforts, Fisker US and the debtor have not been able to create sufficient liquidity to date," said the credit protectors. 47 employees and more than 600 creditors are affected. Fisker has the "Ocean" electric car built at Magna in Graz - but production has been halted for some time. Now the final end has followed.