Fisker: Deal with Foxconn Needs to be Done ‘This Year’

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – A final agreement between electric vehicle manufacturer Fisker Inc. and Foxconn needs to be completed in the next two months, Fisker’s chairman and CEO said Monday.

“We have to finalize an agreement for manufacturing this year,” Henrik Fisker told analysts on a conference call discussing the company’s production plans and third-quarter earnings. “It’s a complex agreement,” he added.

Los Angeles-based Fisker announced last year that it had reached a preliminary understanding with Foxconn, the Taiwanese tech giant that acquired the Lordstown assembly complex in 2022.  The plan is for Foxconn – the largest consumer electronics contract manufacturer in the world – to produce the Fisker Pear, a small EV suited for urban mobility.

However, a final manufacturing agreement has not been signed.

“I am in contact with Foxconn,” Fisker said on the call. “I am optimistic. We are very close to finalizing an agreement. We will announce it when it’s done.”

Still, time is of essence since production of the Pear – an acronym for Personal Electronic Automotive Revolution – is scheduled to begin in 2025. Fisker had initially said he would like to manufacture 250,000 Pears at the plant.

Foxconn Ohio’s plant is currently producing the MK-V, an electric-powered driverless optional tractor designed by Monarch Tractor in Livermore, California. It had earlier produced a small volume of Endurance EV pickups for Lordstown Motors Corp. until that company filed bankruptcy in June.

The company is also talking to Foxconn about producing the Alaska, a new EV pickup that Fisker unveiled this year, the CEO told analysts. However, Fisker noted that the EV startup is also courting traditional original equipment manufacturers that could build the Alaska.

“We’re also talking to some O.E.M.’s about sharing the Alaska platform and building in their factories in the U.S.,” he said. “We will have to make these decisions very soon.”

Fisker added that it is also scouting a potential U.S. site to produce its Fisker Ocean, an electric SUV that is in production in Granz, Austria. 

“We’re looking at potential ways to manufacture the Ocean in the U.S.,” Fisker said. “We need to manufacture it eventually here,” he added, noting a U.S.-based plant would reduce transportation and material costs.

During the third quarter, the company reported it manufactured 4,725 vehicles and delivered 1,097 Oceans. Deliveries accelerated during October, the company reported, with 1,200 Oceans delivered during that month.

Fisker on Monday reported a net loss of $91 million on total revenues of $71.8 million, falling short of Wall Street analyst expectations.

Also, in a regulatory filing issued late Monday, the company said it had discovered “material weaknesses” in its internal financial reporting and would delay its quarterly 10-Q report.

Pictured at top: Fisker Inc.’s Pear crossover.

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