Electrical-vehicle maker Fisker Inc. hopes Canadian provide large and contract assembler Magna International Inc. can enhance manufacturing at its plant in Austria to 150,000 autos from 2024 as reservations for the automaker’s first automobile surge.
The EV startup says it has taken greater than 40,000 reservations for the Ocean SUV, which begins at $37,499 within the U.S. The corporate expects as many as double that by year-end, CEO Henrik Fisker mentioned in an interview.
Magna, which additionally builds BMW’s 5 Collection sedan and Mercedes-Benz’s G Class SUV on contract at its manufacturing unit in Graz, will begin assembling the Ocean in November. In 2020, Fisker and Magna signed an settlement to make 50,000 items on the plant in 2023 and the CEO mentioned he’s assured the provider might triple output the next 12 months.
Fisker is a part of a crop of EV hopefuls looking for to interrupt into the automaking main league because the shift to battery-powered vehicles accelerates. The corporate is bullish on its manufacturing prospects partially due to its shut relationship with Magna, which holds a 6 % stake within the newcomer.
“Massive carmakers are actually engaged on their second main fashions, incorporating classes discovered, and lots of of these will hit the market from 2025,” Fisker mentioned. “Between every now and then, we have now an opportunity to get in.”
The Ocean, which Fisker confirmed off to European clients at a convention in Barcelona earlier this 12 months, must compete with autos together with Volkswagen Group’s ID4 and Tesla Inc.’s Mannequin Y. The automobile is available in three variations with two completely different battery varieties. The bottom providing makes use of cheaper lithium-ion-phosphate cells, serving to Fisker navigate a number of the value surges for uncooked supplies, particularly nickel, the manager mentioned.
The producer can be engaged on its second mannequin, the Pear, which it plans to construct within the U.S. with associate Foxconn Know-how Group.
Magna ranks No. four on the Automotive Information record of the top 100 global suppliers, with worldwide components gross sales to automakers of $32.65 billion in 2020.