According to two people familiar with the talks, Nissan is close to investing in Fisker, a company that makes electric cars. If the deal goes through, Nissan could get an electric pickup truck, and Fisker would get some much-needed money.
The sources, who did not want to be named because the talks are still going on and have not been confirmed, said the deal could close this month.
As part of the talks, Nissan is reportedly willing to put more than $400 million into Fisker’s truck platform and start making Fisker’s planned Alaska pickup at one of its U.S. assembly plants in 2026. The source said that Nissan would use the same platform to make its electric truck. Nissan has factories in Mississippi and Tennessee that put together cars.
Fisker said Thursday that it might not be able to stay in business and would be laying off 15% of its staff. It also said that it was in talks with a big automaker about a possible investment and a development relationship. It didn’t say which car company it was.
A Fisker spokesman said that the company doesn’t comment on rumors, but Nissan officials were not available to speak at the time of this writing.
Before the Reuters story, Fisker shares were down about 45%. They recovered some of their losses and were now down about 25%, with a market value of more than $295 million.
One of the sources said that the term sheet is ready and that the deal is now being looked over carefully.
Nissan was a leader in electric vehicles (EVs) when it released the Leaf car in 2010. However, it has had a hard time keeping up with faster-moving competitors since then. It could move into the growing U.S. electric truck market with the help of a deal with Fisker.
The talks between Nissan and Fisker happened after Nissan “rebalanced” its relationship with its longtime alliance partner Renault.
After months of talks, Nissan and Renault finally agreed on the terms of a new organization for their partnership last year. Part of the deal is that they will each own 15% of the other company.
One Nissan insider claimed the smaller alliance removes some restraints and enables Nissan to grow in areas like electric cars (EVs) and software without Renault.
The automaker with its headquarters in Yokohama is looking at “many, many opportunities,” the source said.
The deal could be the only way for Fisker to stay in business at a time when bold price cuts by Tesla and BYD are putting pressure on the industry as a whole, especially on new companies like Fisker.
High-interest rates have made it harder for Fisker to sell its most popular electric SUV, the Ocean. It said that its current funds were “insufficient” to cover the next twelve months and that it might have to cut back on operations, investments, production, and jobs if it didn’t get more money.
Thursday, Fisker also said it was in talks with a debt buyer about a possible investment. Fisker said that it plans to deliver between 20,000 and 22,000 Ocean cars by 2024.
Fisker in Final Talks for EV Platform Partnership: Two or Three Platforms Planned in North America
Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker, told Reuters earlier that the company was in talks with five automakers about forming a relationship to make more of its cars. Thursday, he said that talks had been narrowed down to one carmaker and that a deal would include making two or three electric vehicle platforms together and making them in North America.
Fisker showed off the Alaska pickup truck last year. It costs a little more than $45,000, and the company said it would start making them early next year. The Alaska platform is longer than the Ocean platform. It and any Nissan vehicles like it would go up against the Ford F-150 Lightning, GM’s Chevrolet Silverado electric truck, Rivian’s R1T, and Tesla’s Cybertruck.
But on Thursday, Henrik Fisker said that the startup would not spend money on any more projects until they had a strategic relationship in place.
