Henrik Fisker once envisioned a burgeoning EV empire at the startup he named after himself, which was to be led by the Ocean SUV. Cracks started showing in that vision almost as soon as the Ocean hit the road in 2023. Fisker cut production targets multiple times, failed to meet sales goals, and laid off staff.
What’s more, its Ocean SUV was beset with software and mechanical issues, rendering it inoperable for some. Troublesome brakes, sudden power loss, and doors that wouldn’t open led to multiple safety investigations and ultimately a pause in production in order to raise new capital.
All of this forced Fisker to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking the beginning of an inauspicious period for the eponymous startup. Below is a timeline of the events that led the automaker to this point.
In 2023, Fisker fell short of its second quarter production target, producing only 1,022 Ocean SUVs against an expectation of 1,400 to 1,700 vehicles. Days later, the company announced plans to sell $340 million in convertible debt to fund operations and future product development.
By December, Fisker cut its annual production guidance for the fourth time, reducing its forecast to just 10,000 vehicles for the year.
The troubles continued into 2024. In January, Fisker struggled to meet internal sales goals, often selling just one to two dozen Ocean SUVs per day in North America, far from its public target of 300 daily global deliveries.
Federal safety regulators opened an investigation into the Ocean SUV over braking problems after receiving 19 complaints from owners. Customer reports included issues with sudden power loss, problematic key fobs, and the vehicle’s front hood flying open at high speeds.
A second federal probe was opened in February after four complaints of the vehicle rolling away unexpectedly. Later that month, Fisker announced a 15% reduction in its workforce and revealed it likely did not have enough cash on hand to survive the next year.
In March, Fisker paused production for six weeks as it scrambled for a cash infusion, disclosing it had only $121 million in cash on hand. A potential rescue deal with a large automaker, reported to be Nissan, was terminated, putting separate funding efforts in danger. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of Fisker stock and moved to delist the company.
An internal audit revealed the company had temporarily lost track of millions of dollars in customer payments due to lax internal procedures. In some cases, vehicles were delivered without any form of payment being collected.
April brought a new round of layoffs to preserve cash. In May, it was reported that Fisker had stopped paying the engineering firm that helped develop its future vehicles, the Pear and the Alaska. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a fourth investigation into the Ocean SUV over complaints of inadvertent automatic emergency braking.
Hundreds more employees were laid off at the end of May in a final bid to stay alive. An internal investigation pointed to the flawed Ocean SUV, hubris, power struggles, and a failure to establish basic operational processes as key reasons for the collapse.
June began with the first official recall of the Ocean SUV due to incorrectly displayed warning lights. On June 18, after a year of struggles, Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Court filings later revealed the company was facing potential financial distress as early as August 2023.
The fight over Fisker’s assets began immediately. The company asked a bankruptcy court for permission to sell its remaining inventory of 3,231 Ocean SUVs for approximately $14,000 each. Co-founders Henrik Fisker and Geeta Gupta-Fisker reduced their salaries to one dollar.
The proposed fire sale of vehicles faced objections, but a bankruptcy judge eventually gave Fisker the green light to sell the SUVs to a leasing company for a maximum of $46.25 million. A central question in the bankruptcy was whether its largest secured lender should be first in line to receive proceeds from the liquidation.
In September, Fisker initially suggested Ocean owners would have to pay for labor costs associated with recall repairs before suddenly reversing its decision after objection from the U.S. Department of Justice, which declared the plan illegal.
October brought more challenges. The company’s headquarters were found abandoned in complete disarray, with hazardous waste left behind. The fleet buyer for the Oceans expressed doubts about completing the sale due to issues transferring necessary vehicle data.
Despite these last-minute problems, Fisker was able to resolve the issues, agree to cover recall labor costs, and get its liquidation plan confirmed by the court on October 16. A trustee was appointed to oversee the sale of the company’s remaining assets.
In 2025, it was reported that Henrik Fisker and his wife Geeta had quietly wound down their charitable nonprofit foundation, which had been established in 2021 but never distributed significant funding.