Things aren’t looking great for Fisker. The nascent automaker paused production of its only electric vehicle last week as rumors of its impending bankruptcy began to spread. Nissan doesn’t want to partner with the struggling startup, and a new report shines a light on Fisker’s financial troubles, alleging that the company lost track of millions in customer payments.
TechCrunch spoke with anonymous sources familiar with the matter, discovering that Fisker’s lack of strong accounting practices led it to deliver some vehicles without collecting payments. The report claims the company struggled to keep track of down payments and fully paid-for cars. The automaker eventually found most of the money, siphoning resources from the sales team to do so.
Gallery: Fisker Ocean Production Model
One person who spoke to the publication said the company not only lost checks but also didn’t cash them “in a timely manner.” Employees would then have to spend time finding checks and credit card receipts after delivering vehicles.
As TechCrunch noted, there were signs of trouble. In November last year, Fisker admitted it had found issues within its accounting department. While it sounds like those issues have been remedied, it might be too little late for the brand.
Yesterday, Fisker slashed Ocean prices in a seemingly desperate attempt to get cars off the lot. The entry-level Sport starts at $24,999 before destination charges, and the Ocean Extreme dropped from $61,499 to $37,999.
With the company lacking a deal with Nissan, it’ll have to look for alternative methods to stay afloat. It's already cut 15 percent of its staff, and the New York Stock Exchange had to delist the company this week after its stock price fell by 80 percent.
Fisker has quite the fight ahead of it.
