Electric Vehicle Company Shutters Manhattan Beach Headquarters: Report

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Manhattan Beach-based electric-vehicle maker Fisker Inc. is closing down its headquarters under threat of bankruptcy, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

After a 15 percent cut to its workforce in mid-April, the remaining employees are moving to an engineering and distribution facility in Orange County, a source told the Times. Bankruptcy has been looming over Fisker since March, the Times said, when a deal with a major automaker fell through, squashing the potential for $150 million in new financing.

This week, Fisker secured a $3.5 million short-term loan to continue operations and sales of its Ocean SUV. The Ocean was created to compete with the Tesla Model Y and consumers have reported issues with software glitches.

To date, there have been four investigations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the vehicle. This includes one opened just this month after reports of the Ocean’s automatic emergency braking system triggered randomly.

Fisker lowered prices on its line of 2023 Oceans in March and has paused production at its manufacturing plant in Austria, according to the Times. Officials announced this week that additional price cuts on some Ocean models are on the horizon.