In the latest sign of slowing electric vehicle market, Fisker announced on March 18 that it  pause production for six weeks as looks to raise more money to stay in business.

In a press statement, the company wrote that the pause on the assembly lines was “to align inventory levels and progress strategic and financing initiatives.”

The pause comes as the company disclosed it had received a financing commitment of up to $150 million from an existing investor. The company said the financing is being provided by the holder of the company’s 2025-dated convertible notes and will be organized in four tranches.

Looking for a Partner

Besides the $150 million infusion, Fisker confirmed it is continuing to be in negotiations with a large automaker for a potential transaction which could include an investment for a joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North America manufacturing. The automaker was not named but a previous report said Nissan was in advanced talks to invest in the company in a deal that could act as a financial lifeline for the cash-strapped EV startup.

Fisker has produced approximately 1,000 vehicles in 2024 through March 15, and has delivered approximately 1,300 globally in that same timeframe. In January, Fisker’s U.S. registrations, at 640 for the month, topped Toyota and ranked 13th overall among brands selling EVs in the US.

But the need for the production pause is the company has approximately 4,700 vehicles in its currently inventory, carried over from 2023 and including 2024 production. Earlier this year, Fisker started to transition its sales strategy from a direct-to-customer model to leaning on dealers to sell cars as it faced issues with distribution and servicing.

EV Market

The Fisker news comes as dealers have been increasingly vocal about the slowing sales for electric vehicles in the U.S. market.

As the Biden Administration has set a goal of ensuring 50% of car purchases are electric by 2030, dealers have found inventory of EVs climbing in the last year.

As a result of their concerns, the EV Voice of the Customer, which counts a total of 4,763 franchised car dealers as part of their coalition, has called for the slowdown of that timeline due to U.S. car buyers not ready to make such a change to EV as well as the infrastructure not ready to handle the number of cars that would be on the road. The group says dealers who have signed up represent all major vehicle manufacturing brands spanning the 50 states.