Fisker stock slips despite first Ocean EV deliveries in the US

Fisker stock (FSR) rolled over after initially trading higher on Friday after the electric vehicle maker announced it would be making its first deliveries in the US.

Fisker will deliver 22 Ocean One launch edition SUVs later today in the Los Angeles area, where Fisker specialists will set up customers and give them walkarounds of the product before hand off. Fisker says these initial US launch vehicles were shipped from the company’s factory in Austria, run by contract manufacturer Magna Steyr, on an expedited basis. Further deliveries in the US will continue through the summer.

"We are thrilled that our first US customers are finally getting behind the wheel of the Fisker Ocean," Fisker Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement. "We’re grateful our customers have been patient with us as we dealt with a longer-than-expected certification period earlier this year, and we’re happy their patience is now starting to be rewarded."

Indeed it has been something of a bumpy road getting the Fisker Ocean approved for sale and delivered in the US. In May of this year, Bloomberg reported Fisker was facing delays delivering the Ocean SUV because of software integration problems, with some vehicles using a "more basic software that limits their speed." Fisker denied the low speed claim and said issues were being resolved with over-the-air updates.

With that said, Friday’s deliveries in the US initially appeared to be good news for investors who have seen Fisker shares slide over 27% year to date. The company has already delivered vehicles in Europe and is aiming to start delivering Ocean SUVs in China starting in Q1 2024.

Fisker said during its Q1 earnings report in early May that the company plans to build 1,400 to 1,700 vehicles in Q2, after which it expects a "steep ramp up" in Q3, which will eventually lead to a monthly production run rate of 6,000 for the rest of the year. Fisker says it anticipates building 32,000 to 36,000 vehicles in 2023 at the factory in Austria.

As for future orders, Fisker also said during its Q1 earnings report that it has a combined 70,000 reservations and orders for the Ocean and its upcoming compact EV SUV, the PEAR.

Currently in the US, the Fisker Ocean One launch edition model starts at $68,999, which is the same price as the model it's based on, the Fisker Ocean Extreme. Fisker says the Extreme has an EPA-estimated range of 360 miles, which is the longest range of any new electric SUV in its class. The cheapest Fisker model in the US is the Ocean Sport trim level, which starts at $37,499.

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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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