Fisker unveils electric pickup truck with 'huge potential' CEO says

Fisker (FSR) announced a new line of vehicles, which includes a pickup truck. In an interview with Yahoo Finance Live, Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker calls pickup trucks “the hottest segment in the U.S.” The new truck, called the Fisker Alaska, will be priced at $45,400 before incentives, with scheduled to start in 2025. Price is a theme Fisker highlights, saying when it comes to demand for a sub-$30,000 EV or cheaper electric pickup truck "we don't know because there isn't any." However, Fisker is optimistic, stating, "we believe that the demand will be there if there's a cool product." The Fisker Alaska will likely ultimately be compared to Tesla's (TSLA) Cybertruck. While the price of the Cybertruck is yet to be announced, it remains one of the most talked about trucks in the EV market.

Fisker also discussed the company's decision to manufacture cars in the U.S. that it sells in the U.S. Purchase volume will be a key factor in the company's manufacturing success, with Fisker explaining "as long as we get a volume that's above 50,000 for each model, then it makes sense to make it locally." Fisker also weighed in on incentives that were passed. "It takes at least two-and-a-half years to get a factory from scratch up and running and I think it would've been fair to wait these two-and-a-half years, but they decided to do different", Fisker said, adding that it hasn't impacted his company "a lot."

Video transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: I'm Akiko Fujita in Huntington Beach, California at Fiskers product vision day. The EV maker unveiling an ambitious lineup it says will chart the company's future.

HENRIK FISKER: We looked at market segments that are either not really occupied or very thinly occupied or very little. So I think with the Ronin your supercar, electric supercar for $385,000, there really isn't anything there, specifically not if it's a four-door convertible clearly.

With the Alaska here, I mean, that's the hottest segment in the US right now as pickups. But everybody has seemed to gone for this sort of $80,000 to $100,000 pickup truck. So we went into this new segment where there's none which is $37,000 for this pickup truck. So I think, again, if we can get these cars out fast, we have a huge potential of taking a big chunk of that segment.

And of course, with the PEAR, I mean, nobody has yet come out with a really exciting vehicle-- electric vehicle for under 30 I mean, incentive is $22,000, and it's so versatile with so many unique things. Like I said, every Fisker car has a lease for unique features nobody else have or that are best in class. And then, of course, the Ocean is now rolling out. But we got to do-- we got to show what's next, what's next, what are we doing next.

AKIKO FUJITA: So looking at the price range, right, the Ronin is you said $385,000, hand-built, very limited, and then you've got something under $30,000. As you look at where the market is looking to, new EV owners, where's the biggest demand?

HENRIK FISKER: Well, I think, the biggest demand right now, I think, on SUVs and pickup trucks, and that's, of course, also an area where you have availability. So when you're looking at electric SUVs and crossovers, that's probably where you have the most choice right now.

I think the Ocean is still sitting very unique as more of an SUV in that sort of $40, 000 to $69,000 price class. When you look at demand for an electric vehicle under $30,000, well, we don't know because there isn't any. I think it's going to be huge. Demand for a pickup truck that's $37,000 we don't know because there isn't any if it's an electric pickup truck. So what we believe, the demand will be there if there's a cool product.

AKIKO FUJITA: Have you secured locations for these other cars that you say will be built in the US?

HENRIK FISKER: So we're in the middle of negotiations, and we're in the middle of looking at different choices, and I think we will make these choices towards the end of this year. And we are looking at-- it depends on which vehicle it is. Obviously, the Ronin is going to be very low volume, so it's a completely different manufacturing method.

When we're looking at both the Alaska and the [? PEAR ?] they have to be built here in the US because we want to take advantage of the incentives. So we are looking at a couple of options but also specifically with Foxconn, , we're obviously still working on the details of the agreement because it takes quite a lot. So that takes a little bit of time to do.

AKIKO FUJITA: So as you think about taking advantage of the incentives because really that allows for even more affordability, does your partnership in Austria-- does that still remain in play in the future?

HENRIK FISKER: Yeah, absolutely. Look, Europe is actually right now accelerating faster in EV adoption, specifically with our Ocean, we are getting more faster acceleration and growth and orders from Europe right now. So we need, of course, because don't forget in Europe there's also incentives. There's logistic costs and everything else. So I expect that eventually the European facility will actually only be delivering into Europe.

When we start selling more than 50,000 Oceans in Europe, that will become the European facility. And that makes sense because then you have to ship across. Now we, of course, we couldn't afford to start with two factories. So now we are shipping Oceans to the US but eventually they'll make the Ocean in the US.

AKIKO FUJITA: In the future then, all cars sold in the US made in the US.

HENRIK FISKER: Pretty much except for something like super high end, low volume, but yes the other vehicles will be made in the US. It's a big market, and as long as we get a volume that's above 50,000 of each model, then it makes sense to make it locally in any market really.

AKIKO FUJITA: I'm thinking back to a conversation we had last year right after the IRA was passed. And you raised some concerns about the requirements that were needed to tap into those incentives. Have you changed your mind on that? Have you seen the kind of momentum maybe the administration had envisioned with those incentives allowing EVs to be a little more affordable?

HENRIK FISKER: No, I still think it's-- I still think that there should have been given more time. I mean, there's other vehicle manufacturers that are planning facilities here in the US. And as I said at that time, it takes at least 2 and 1/2 years to kind of get a factory from scratch up and running. And I think it would have been fair to give wait these 2 and 1/2 years, but they decided to do it different.

Now it hasn't really impacted us a lot. We haven't seen-- I can't really say if it had an impact because you never know if the growth was different. But what I will say I think the biggest impact we have seen in the US is that people have to wait so long for a car.

A lot of people thought they're going to get their car now. And then there, you know, lease went out, so they went and got another one. And say, OK, then we're going to wait. So I think that's the biggest impact we have had to see that maybe the orders are not growing as fast as we had hoped in the US.

And then, of course, you see the financing of vehicles. Somebody who's buying a $70,000 car, of course, they would like the incentives, but there's a big likelihood they earn too much money to get it. And there's a big likelihood they go well, I don't really want a car I don't like just because I get an incentive.

AKIKO FUJITA: You look at the two key hurdles right now to EV adoption, one is price, which you've kind of addressed here today, the other is range. You've got significant range in your cars, but there is a broader debate that's happening about charging standards and ACS and CSS. Increasingly we have seen other companies go with the Tesla standard. How are you thinking about that, and ultimately, does it matter if there are two standards in place because you need all the infrastructure you can tap into?

HENRIK FISKER: Yeah, look, I think it's all a matter of the customer, and we are open to using any standard. Because I think in the end of the day, customers they just want it easy. They don't want to have to be bothered to what is this plug? I don't have it, et cetera.

So I think it's great when everybody opens up and everybody can use all the charges that are available. And at the end of the day, I think that's what's going to satisfy the customer. So we are absolutely open to that. I just saw that some of the legacy car makers are now making also their own club and coming out with something. But I think they are using CCS, which is good news.

So I think, look, if every carmaker would have had their own gasoline stations, we would never had so many cars in the world because there have been a real nuisance for people. So I think we've got to get to as much standardization as we can with plugs.

AKIKO FUJITA: But does it change the way you think about these cars because ultimately if it's got to be built in?

HENRIK FISKER: No, we will build it in. We are already looking at it. I think that's something it's not that big of a deal. If you look at it, you build it in. And as long as there's only two plugs. I think it becomes a real problem if somebody introduce a third plug. You can only have so many plug in a car. Otherwise, it looks like one of these squares you carry when you travel international. We have to pull something out to fit in the wall.

AKIKO FUJITA: As long as the adapter is there.

HENRIK FISKER: Yeah. I think you don't want more than two standards. That's going to be absolutely max.

AKIKO FUJITA: OK, final question here, the Ocean you had the deliveries, the first deliveries in June. The production count not as high as a lot of investors were expecting. And you mentioned part suppliers some of the concerns on that front, has that been resolved?

HENRIK FISKER: Look, we still have a hangover from COVID so it's not a matter of you just suddenly resolve one thing. I think we're going to keep seeing the hangover of COVID for several months generally in the world with all car makers. And I think you're seeing it every day.

We have resolved some issues that we had already done. We still have one supplier where we have issues with ramping up. And of course, we are working on that. Is there something else that's going to happen in two months? I don't know. But we definitely saw more issues with the hangover of COVID than we expected, clearly.

But one of the good things now is we are now up past sort of it just making whatever 20, 30 cars. I mean, we are really up now to making thousands of cars. So I feel pretty good about where we're standing. And one thing that's important in my mind is not so much the yearly amount of vehicles we are going to deliver because we don't have a full year.

I think what's important is, can we get up to our daily target of 300 cars a day, which is 6,000 cars a month. And yes we can. This we are fully-- we are 100% sure we can do that, and we are going to get up to that later this year.