Jumat, 05 April 2013

Fisker: The End?

There are reports that Fisker has terminated most of its employees, leaving a "skeleton crew" in place to try to find a buyer for what is left of the company, and to deal with the DOE ATVM loan payment which is about to come due.

In other words, it looks like Fisker is finally done.

A "going concern" would not fire product development people.

Making money selling cars is hard. Carmakers need access to billions of dollars in cash to fund daily operations, and these borrowings aren't easy to come by at a time when banks and investors want some certainty of repayment. People aren't willing to gamble much on companies that may not become profitable.

The big question in my mind is Tesla. Tesla is the best capitalized of the EV start-ups, but is also in a race against the bank. Tesla must become cash-flow positive to a degree that lenders will loan it short term operating funds with which to run the business. Otherwise, when Elon Musk's wealth dries up, game over.

Still, I have to hand it to Henrik Fisker and crew. They worked hard, and managed to build a beautiful, if impractical and buggy, luxury sportscar. Collectors will be swapping Fisker Karmas for decades to come, and I expect to see Fisker meet-ups at car shows and drive-ins.

Maybe someone will buy Fisker and try to make a go at it, but I doubt we'll see any more cars built.

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