EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
reuters.com
EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#2Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation.
I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#3Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation. I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
On the product side MKBHD said this was the worst car he ever Reviewed: https://youtu.be/6xWXRk3yaSw
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#4Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation. I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
So what if they outsourced production? It's not like the company in charge of the production was some no name Chinesium vaporware company, but a highly experienced manufacturer who also builds cars for Mercedes and Jaguar at the same factory and is been in business for like ~80 years.
You don't need to own your factory to make good solid cars. Sometimes it's best to hand it over to more experienced partners who know what they're doing, while you focus on the consumer facing side.
After all, none of Fisker's major issues were manufacturing related, but software/UX.
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#5Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation. I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
So what if they outsourced production? It's not like the company in charge of the production was some no name Chinesium vaporware company, but a highly experienced manufacturer who also builds cars for Mercedes and Jaguar at the same factory and is been in business for like ~80 years. You don't need to own your factory to make good solid cars. Sometimes it's best to hand it over to more experienced partners who know…
The idea that outsourcing production had anything to their downfall seems far-fetched.
The richest hardware company in the world, Apple, completely outsourced production.
Maybe things are different with cars but that seems unlikely to me.
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#6killedbymkbhd.com
Jokes aside, they sort of "deserve" it - given their product
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#7Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation. I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
On the product side MKBHD said this was the worst car he ever Reviewed: https://youtu.be/6xWXRk3yaSw
He did say that, and nuanced it well. It wasn't that it was a flaming pile of garbage, just that it had a bunch of software quality issues (which are inpactful) and a few weird hardware issues, which shouldn't be in a $70+k car.
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#8Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation. I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
> they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
That is interesting. So they were more of an IP shop, and didn't get into the capital and labor side of auto manufacture. That may not have been material to the business arc that led to bankruptcy, but it reflects a different way of operating.
How much did they outsource software design and construction? Software flaws were part of the MKBHD review referenced in a different comment.
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
So what if they outsourced production? It's not like the company in charge of the production was some no name Chinesium vaporware company, but a highly experienced manufacturer who also builds cars for Mercedes and Jaguar at the same factory and is been in business for like ~80 years. You don't need to own your factory to make good solid cars. Sometimes it's best to hand it over to more experienced partners who know…
The idea that outsourcing production had anything to their downfall seems far-fetched. The richest hardware company in the world, Apple, completely outsourced production. Maybe things are different with cars but that seems unlikely to me.
>The idea that outsourcing production had anything to their downfall seems far-fetched
Then why do people keep bringing it up all the time in Fisker's context? It's as if people have an unfounded FUD about outsourcing despite it being done exemplary in automotive for decades without most people knowing about it, and they falsely assume having your own factory means better quality when Tesla proves otherwise.
Re: EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy
#10Unsurprising. They were late to the game and had a product which had very few points of differentiation. I also think it is important to point out that they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production.
> they were not making cars, they designed cars and outsourced production. That is interesting. So they were more of an IP shop, and didn't get into the capital and labor side of auto manufacture. That may not have been material to the business arc that led to bankruptcy, but it reflects a different way of operating. How much did they outsource software design and construction? Software flaws were part of the MKBHD r…
>How much did they outsource software design and construction? Software flaws were part of the MKBHD review referenced in a different comment.
I think it is pretty unclear. Magna Steyr was the manufacturer of the Ocean and Fisher used their platform. I would assume that Fisker developed most of the user facing stuff, so interior, exterior and UI.