Nissan in funding talks with troubled Fisker, reports claim

Nissan is reportedly considering a £316m investment in struggling US electric car maker Fisker.

The start-up behind the Ocean SUV said last week that it might not be able to continue operating and was shedding 15% of its workforce after reporting a loss of £366m in the last quarter of 2023.

It said it did not have sufficient resources to cover the next 12 months and was pausing development of the Pear compact EV so it could focus available funds on the construction and development of the Ocean.

At the time, CEO Henrik Fisker said: “Fisker is in negotiations with a large auto maker for a potential transaction which could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms and North America manufacturing.”

Reuters has now reported that Nissan is considering a $400m (£316m) investment, with a deal set to be concluded as early as this month.

The news agency quoted two sources close to the discussions who said that Nissan was looking at investing in Fisker’s electric pick-up truck platform. They said that Nissan could end up building the planned Fisker Alaska at its own US factories. This would help Fisker continue as a going concern while also allowing Nissan to build its own pick-up on the same platform.

The Alaska was unveiled last year and is intended to compete with the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, Chevy Silverado and Tesla Cybertruck in the growing electric truck market. However, last week, Fisker’s chief financial officer Geeta Gupta-Fisker said the project’s future depended on a partnership with another car maker.

Fisker has struggled since launching the Ocean in 2023. It blamed high interest rates for a sharp decline in demand but recent months have also seen a slew of owner complaints around reliability and two investigations into faults by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.