Electric-vehicle startup Fisker issued a going concern warning Thursday and said it would lay off 15% of its staff, following a series of stumbles in its first year of production, the Wall Street Journal reported. Fisker’s warning about its ability to stay in business was triggered by its abrupt transition from a direct-to-consumer sales model to using a traditional dealership network, which the company said weighed on sales. It also came as Fisker reported a worse-than-expected loss for the year, and said it missed its full-year production target of at least 13,000 units. Fisker built a little over 10,000 vehicles in 2023 and delivered only 4,900 to customers. The company’s stock fell 34% in after-hours trading Thursday to under 50 cents a share. The California-based electric-car maker said the transition to a dealer model was key to its business plan and that it may need to raise additional cash from investors to stay in business. EV startups like Fisker, Rivian Automotive and Lucid Group are facing a difficult time ahead as the demand for battery-powered vehicles cools and competition intensifies, particularly from well-established car companies that have more margin to cut prices. Some, like Lordstown Motors, have already gone bankrupt. Fisker said that it aimed to produce 20,000 to 22,000 vehicles this year, which it said was in part a response to softer demand from American car buyers.
