Fisker, the electric carmaker created by Danish auto designer Henrik Fisker, is following Lucid into the extremely competitive Chinese market.
According to a recent business release, Fisker will construct a delivery facility in China this year and start delivering its first all-electric vehicle, the Ocean SUV, in Q1 2024. It plans to start manufacturing in China next year, adding 75,000 Ocean SUVs to its capacity.
Fisker increased its manufacturing target to 42,400 by 2023 because of “strong demand” from Europe and the U.S.
The California-based EV startup has already started building government contacts, which, as we saw with Tesla’s Shanghai transaction, is essential for conducting business in China.
According to its release, Fisker’s leadership team met with officials and business executives in Shanghai to examine collaborations and prospects in China. Supply networks, logistics, warehousing, and future production were discussed.
Fisker competes with Chinese luxury EV brand Nio. Nio, which had pledged not to join the price war prompted by Tesla’s aggressive price cuts, cut all its prices by $4,000 last week.
Nio is much behind BYD and Tesla. According to the China Passenger Car Association, BYD led the all-electric auto market in April with 24%, followed by Tesla with 12%.
According to the association, Nio sold slightly under 40,000 units in the first four months of 2023 and held 3.4% of the all-electric market.
Fisker hopes China’s huge market and love of luxury cars will help its progress. The business seems to be betting that the rich class, which has been actively buying Audi, Benz, and BMW vehicles, would hunt for ABB (affectionately termed such in China for their popularity) analogs in the age of electrification.
“Fi” style, China represents a third of global vehicle sales, roughly 26 million cars in 2022, of which electric vehicles represent 6-7 million, around a 25% share,” s” id Fisker China board member Daniel Foa.
“Ye”r-to-date, that is 27%. Second, premium and inexpensive luxury is rising faster than general sectors. With its unique history, features, and design, Fisker fits nicely in that segment,” h” continued.
“Ch”na has always liked high-quality traditional international automotive brands,” he,” said. Government and consumer initiatives have accelerated electrification. Fisker is one of two multinational EV-only enterprises that can compete with traditional brands.”
M”. Fisker knows the Chinese capital market. Wanxiang Group, ChiChina’srgest car parts firm (which also has a vast web3 investment empire), bought Fisker AutAutomotive’ssets in 2014.
