Fisker is still on track to begin production of the Ocean SUV in November, with reservations for its first electric vehicle to jump 31,000, the company said Wednesday during its fourth quarter and year -round earnings call. .
The EV startup said production of the prototypes has begun at the Fisker Ocean assembly facility, which is operated by the Magna Steyr automotive factory in Graz, Austria. The facility will soon have the capability to produce two prototypes per day to support its testing and validation program for global certification.
There are 1,600 fleet reservations for Ocean, including an incremental 200-unit order from software company ServiceNow.
Unraving the figures in its earnings report, it appears the company has added approximately 6,000 reservations since the beginning of the year. Fisker reported $ 6.3 million in deposits by the end of 2021. Because it charges $ 250 for Ocean SUV deposits, the company likely had approximately 25,000 reservations by the end of 2021. Fisker reports net daily retail reservation rate in 2022 year-to-date increased by more than 400% compared to the previous fiscal year, and is at a pace of reaching over 55,000.
About 80% of Ocean reservations go out in North America, with the rest going out in Europe, according to CEO Henry Fisker, but the company expects that number to change when it launches in Europe. The company will go to the Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona to launch Ocean. Henrik Fisker said he expects Europe to generate 40% to 50% of total demand.
A survey of reservation holders conducted by the company in December 2021 showed that the majority, 81%, plan to buy one of the top two trims, the Ocean Ultra, which costs $ 49,999, and the Ocean Extreme/One , priced at $ 68,999. This indicates an initial average sale price of approximately $ 56,000 and current reservations have an indicative total future revenue amount of approximately $ 1.7 billion, based on more than 30,000 bookings.
The lower tier trim, the Ocean Sport, is priced at $ 37,499.
During the call, Fisker mentioned the company’s opportunity to have market share in the “sexy, sustainable” category, saying there are no other competitors selling affordable, beautiful, and high-tech EVs because most Cars entering the market, including some of Fisker’s, are higher priced.
“I challenge you to find a sexy, high-tech electric vehicle for under $ 30,000,” Fisker said in the earnings call. “Now, with that in mind, think about what will happen in the next two years. All of this market share will be up for grabs. And if we’re going to have the car in very little, we’re going to have the ability to take a bigger share of the market than we normally get if you’re going to have 50 competitors, and we don’t. All these competitors that everyone is talking about come out with $ 60,000, $ 70,000, $ 80,000-plus cars. ”
While Fisker primarily determines the potential for its Pear, an electric crossover that opened for reservations on Tuesday with a starting price of $ 29,000, it’s clear from the breakdown of Fisker’s Ocean reservation that current buyers are still more interested. in pursuit of the highest form of luxury. available in an EV.
That said, even though Pear is open for reservations in just one day, it already has 1,000 signups, according to Fisker.
The company announced the completion of part of the concept for Pear, which will be done in partnership with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn in Ohio to the expected annual volume of at least 250,000 per year after the full ramp-up.
“My goal is that we will eventually produce more than a million Pears a year, sometime after 2025,” Fisker said. “Obviously, that will require a lot of factories on many continents. But I think this vehicle has the potential to be iconic, globally. It’s designed not to fit into one segment, but to fit into the future lifestyle.”
The CEO cited the company’s agreement announced in Q3 last year with battery cell manufacturer CATL, which should give Fisker an initial annual capacity of more than 5 gigawatt-hours by 2025, with the potential to increase those. volume.
Retail loans, warranties and powertrain development
Among other announcements during the earnings call, Fisker said it has appointed JPMorgan Chase in North America and Santander in Europe as its banking partners for point of sale retail loans for all customers its.
“Our teams are now up to their knees in architecturing and fully integrating systems for a hassle-free user journey, from the ordering process to analysis creation to funding to ownership experience, ”said Drs. Geeta Gupta-Fisker, co-founder, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Fisker.
The company also announced that it has a “greenlit” powertrain development center in Southern California that will focus on everything from pack design to battery management system design.
“We’ve built strong internal capabilities in these areas, but we’re doing that and providing the technology and tools needed to increase expertise in this critical area,” Gupta-Fisker said. “The Center of Excellence will also be used for benchmarking vehicle damage, as well as root canal testing.”
Fisker’s finances
Fisker’s net loss in the fourth quarter was $ 138.4 million, or $ 0.47 loss per share, which was $ 0.01 higher than street expectations, according to Yahoo Finance. Losses in the fourth quarter widened from the previous quarter’s $ 109.8 million, or $ 0.37, and a loss of $ 87.4 million, or 39 cents per share, over the same period last year.
Fisker generated revenue of $ 41,000 in the fourth quarter – thanks to some merchandise sales – and $ 161,000 for the year. The annual sales value is $ 87,000.
As a company might expect before the revenue it is trying to measure, it has seen operating costs hit $140.9 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 368% from the $ 30.1 million it spent in the same period last year. Capital expenditures were $ 52.6 million in the fourth quarter, according to the filing.
Losses from the operations totaled $ 133.4 million, an increase of approximately 22%. Similar to the last quarter, Fisker was throwing money into R&D, spending $ 115 million in Q4, up from $ 99.3 million in Q3.
When we zoom out on full-year spending, Fisker spent $ 286.9 million on R&D, up from $ 21 million in 2020, a typical turn for a pre-revenue and pre-production company preparing to sell products. vehicles equipped with tech like the ADAS system it announced at CES along with the Magna.
As a result of very good spending, Fisker’s cash supply dropped slightly, from $ 1.4 billion last quarter to $ 1.2 billion in the fourth quarter, but it still has a lot to play with because the company has little to no barrier to long-term debt. . It does have convertible notes, but those are likely to become equity over time.
The company said it has remained relatively disciplined in spending, and as a result has the resources to fund the launch of the Ocean program in November and stay on track with other projects in 2022. However, after the November Ocean ramp-up, Fisker is developing “a very good working capital model” and is in discussions with several large balance sheet banks for access to asset-backed credit lines to fund working capital needs in a not diluted that way, ”Gupta-Fisker said.
The company also relies on its access to industry-standard payment terms of many suppliers, and is open to raising funds again in public markets if it needs to further strengthen balances, according to Gupta-Fisker.
Fisker stock was short-lived up to $ 14 per share after hours, but settled at about $ 12.90 at the time of this writing, an increase of nearly 2% today.