Fisker plans high-end models to take on premium rivals

Electric-car startup Fisker will develop two new, high-end, low-volume models, CEO Henrik Fisker said.

The models will slot above the upcoming Ocean SUV and the automaker's second car, a mass-market EV called Pear (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution).

The vehicles will be aimed at customers of traditional high-end brands, Fisker told Automotive News Europe in an interview.

"We have to get car enthusiasts behind us and to do that we want to have a smaller group to create some really dramatic unique car enthusiast vehicles," Fisker said of the company's planned new R&D center in the UK, which will develop the vehicles.

The center will likely be based near Oxford, England, Fisker added.

Fisker has recruited Aston Martin's director of special projects, David King, to lead the center, which will be called Magic Works, the company said.

The models will utilize lower-volume tooling and higher-grade body panel materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber similar to Aston Martin and Ferrari.

"That is where David's strengths come in having worked with these high-end materials," Fisker said.

The company is aiming for annual volumes of about 5,000 to 10,000 for each car, compared to 50,000 to 100,000 units for the Ocean and Pear, he added.

The company hopes to launch the two low-volume models in 2024.

One of the cars will be priced about 70,000 euros to 80,000 euros ($81,000 to $93,000) and will be based on Fisker's Magna-developed platform, while the second model will be lower volume and will cost over 100,000 euros and will use an unnamed platform, Fisker said.

Fisker will show the production version of the Ocean SUV at the Los Angeles auto show in November ahead of first deliveries in November 2022, the company has said.

The exterior of the car will be "pretty much the same" as the concept shown at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2020, but the interior is "completely new," Fisker said.

The car will be built by Magna Steyr in Austria.

The Pear is due in 2023 and is scheduled to be built in the U.S. by Taiwan's Foxconn. The car could arrive earlier than planned after Foxconn announced a deal in September to buy GM's old Lordstown plant in Ohio, Fisker tweeted earlier this month.

The Pear will cost from $30,000 and will not be revealed until closer to its launch, Fisker said.

"It has some major innovations and we do not want to show it to our competitors too early. It's too radical," the executive told ANE.