Author: cfreema7

As the company implodes, news of a saving grace emerges

It started off like so many other IPOs, a big bang at first and then settling down, where the stock opened at $15 a share, then climbed up to $18 at one point. Then it begins settling back down to $16 – 17 a share. Then Bank of America came out and said that stock should go up to $26. At that point, I bought it. Then, news began coming out that Fisker was having production issues, they had to reduce their projection of cars to be delivered by Q2 ’24. Then news of owner reports after initial deliveries started, a trickling out that the cars were not working as expected. The owners were not happy, and therefore, the investors were not happy. At first, the stock began to tumble, then it began to plummet. By the time the stock was down to $7 a share, news of brake issues started coming out. The stock began to nosedive even further. Then the nail in the coffin came out in the form of NHTSA issuing a recall over the brakes. The stock plummeted to less than $2 a share, and when the dust cleared, news came out that Fisker would be filing bankruptcy, and the dream was over.

Cash flow is king!

Christopher “Kit” Menkin, American Leasing

That was just about the time I saw my first Fisker. One of the early adopters. It was at the Westfield Shopping Center in Culver City at the Electrify America charging station. From the moment I glanced at that shape, it caught my eye and my heart. It just looks so cool. I mean it looks like every other SUV out there, the classic x-box shape, but there was just something about it that just looked badass, and I knew I had to have one. The curves of the car, the wide aggressive stance with the flared fenders, it was just awesome!

The only problem: How would I get one? I thought, “Oh well, it’s over now.” Then reports started coming out that a company called American Leasing was buying up the Fiskers for $15K. Hmmm, that’s interesting I thought. If I could get in touch with those of American Leasing company, maybe I could make an offer to purchase the cars from the inventory and somehow managed to get my hands on a Fisker. I figured at that point that if they were buying them for $15k, they would probably be for sale for $20 to $25k at some point. Problem was, I had no idea how I could actually find one, let alone find this company called American leasing. Apparently, I hadn’t heard of Google at that point.

I had no idea who or what American Leasing was. But they were in the news as the opportunity to purchase a Fisker Ocean One. It seems they were purchasing all Fisker autos in the US, which at the time would be about 4000 units or so. I guess they would then act as a clearinghouse to sell the cars to other interested parties. The only problem, searching for American Leasing on the internet turned up pretty much nothing. Other than news stories that they were buying, there was a website listed as American Leasing, that looked like it was created in 1995. Was this the saving grace that I was looking for? Is this the company that I could buy my Fisker Ocean One from and live the dream of driving 360 electrified miles on a single charge? It remained to be seen, and as everything in big business, I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. American Leasing would be just part of the solution to my problem, but there was another player that would make my dreams come true: CarGurus!

Stay tuned for what happens next!

From the moment I saw the ad for this car, I wanted it. So when they opened the doors to putting down a deposit, I figured, let’s do it! From the website, I clicked the link, and I told them, ready when you are. This was 2020, and the timeline was that the Fisker Ocean One, the limited edition release, would occur sometime in late 2023. My current lease would expire Oct 2024. I figured, another 12 months after the Ocean One, they would get around to releasing the lower models and my lease would end just as they would release the Ocean Ultra, the trim level for my budget.

Wow! Hard to be believe that was 4 years ago. Granted, at the time, I had just entered into my lease with my Polestar 2, so I was in no hurry, and the expectation was that my car lease would expire just as the new car would be available seemed like a match made in heaven.

I was excited for several reasons: At the time, the Fisker had an EPA estimated range of 360 miles, the second longest behind Lucid’s Touring Coupe, and at half the price. And with a sunroof. Fisker and Lucid started advertising about the same time, and both cars seemed next generation beyond the offerings of the stagnant Tesla and the smallish Polestar.

“We’re on a journey to a clean future for all – and we invite you along for the ride. We see a future where skies are blue, the air is pure, and your conscience is clear whenever you go out for a drive in your Fisker EV. Our mission is to create the most sustainable vehicles on Earth.  ”

Henrik Fisker, Designer of the Fisker Ocean

To be honest, I really don’t know what grabbed me about this car. The front grill seemed over the top. California Mode, the feature that rolled down all windows at once? My cars have been rolling down windows from the key fob since my 2000 Mercedes CLK Convertible. A sunroof? Didn’t seem like a big motivator. And yet, something drew me to this car above all others. Above the Tesla, which I actually had a deposit on, and backed out for reasons due to color changes and price increases. Above the Ford Mach-E, which was listed to match the 300-mile range mark I needed. But I also knew that EPA estimated are as much as 20% over real world stats. Above the Volkswagen ID.4., and others.

I don’t know what ecxactly got me going on this car, but something did, and I gladly charged the $250 deposit to my Visa on that September morning. Or was it evening? Not realy sure. But little did I know what I was in for.

Originally, my price range $50k for a new car. I pondered as to how I should pay cash for it, or continue leasing/renting my cars. leasing is always so annoying, worrying about every little scratch, every little windshield chip. But I figured that was 3 years away, no worries. To stay in budget, I originally opted for the Ocean Ultra. It still had impressive features: 340 mile EPA estimated range, the hyper motor which aligned with a 400+hp drive, and a nice sunroof roof. But I was worried, what it didin’t have was Adaptive Cruise Control.

This feature had become my savior, my ‘Go To’ car gadget for even just driving around town on the LA freeways which are so stop-and-go. Adaptive driving slowed the car down when I wasn’t paying attention to the driver in front of me. Adaptive driving accelerated when I wasn’t paying attention to the car in front of me. It used used everywhere from the 405 fwy heading home to the Hwy 15 heading to Las Vegas. To me, it was the single most important, life saving feature on a car. More than ABS brakes. More than power steering. More than Bluetooth even. And now, I was going to lose it because it was out of my price range. The Adaptive Cruise Control would only be featured in the Ocean One and the Ocean Extreme, which started at $68,999. My Ocean Ultra, starting at $49,999 would only come with standard Cruise Control.

I kept this on the back burner. Maybe things would change in 3 years. Maybe social pressure, manufacturing processing or a gift from God would revise options and make this available. I figured what the heck, I’ll see what happens and maybe there will be a price drop by the time it’s my turn to purchase the car. Afterall, it was still 3 years away.

Then the news started coming out about production issues and maybe not making delivery dates. And stock started dropping. Then reviews were coming out from owners about cars not working and no one around to fix them. The stock starts dropping. And dropping. And dropping. Then the coffin was nailed shut: A federal recall regarding the brakes failing in an unexpected manner, and a water pump issue causing cars to stop in mid drive. Oh brother! My first thought wasn’t about the $250 deposit, it was the $10k investment in Fisker stock! At the time, BofA analysts said the stock would climb from $18/share to $26/share in the near future. But alas, ’twas not to be.

Then came news that Fisker was slashing prices. The $70k Ocean One was now being offered for around $40k. Wow! What was happening!

And then…poof! It was all gone. The money. The company. The car. Fisker Inc., at one point was valued at $9B. That’s B for Billion. And now, it was all gone. But then news surfaced of a company buying the cars that were already manufactured. Something called American Leasing was buying something like 4,000 cars at $15k a pop to help solvency of the Fisker company. Now these would be for sale to the public at even deeper discounted prices. Yay me!!!

The car that I had ordered was now available for half the price. And better yet, the car I wanted was now 66% off. For $25k, I could now afford the car of my dreams. But with no warranty or tangible support, will this become the car of my nightmares? Stay tuned…