Henrik Fisker went bankrupt twice — the second time with a $100K SUV nobody wanted

Fisker Inc., founded in 2016 by Henrik Fisker (whose first company, Fisker Automotive, went bankrupt in 2013), went public via a SPAC merger in October 2020. The stock peaked near $30. Fisker's plan was to build the Ocean, an electric SUV, using contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Austria — avoiding the capital cost of building its own factory.

The Ocean launched in late 2022 to mixed reviews. Build quality was poor — panels misaligned, software buggy, and early owners reported numerous defects. Fisker delivered approximately 10,000 Oceans in 2023, far below projections. The company burned cash and could not secure additional funding.

In June 2024, Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The stock had fallen from $30 to $0.01. Henrik Fisker had now gone bankrupt twice with companies bearing his name. The asset-light model — designing the car and outsourcing manufacturing to Magna — did not solve the fundamental problem: the car was not good enough, and the company could not afford to fix it.

Outsourced manufacturing to Magna to avoid factory costs, but lost control over build quality, and the Ocean's defects sank the brand.

The asset-light model (outsourcing to Magna) avoided factory costs but meant Fisker had no control over build quality — and the quality was poor.

Henrik Fisker's first bankruptcy (Fisker Automotive, 2013) should have been a signal; the second suggests the problem was not the business model but the execution.

The SPAC-funded valuation assumed rapid scaling; 10,000 deliveries in a year against a multi-billion valuation is not scaling.

The Ocean's poor build quality destroyed word-of-mouth in a market where early adopter reviews determine whether a brand survives.

Outsourcing manufacturing does not outsource quality. The Ocean's misaligned panels were Fisker's problem, not Magna's. If you cannot control the build, you cannot control the brand.

Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 in June 2024. Henrik Fisker's future in the auto industry is uncertain. The Ocean remains in service with early owners, who face uncertainty about software updates and parts. The case is cited alongside the original Fisker Automotive as evidence that some founders repeat their mistakes.