Shares of Fisker (FSRN -12.70%) pulled back Monday morning as it became the latest electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer to announce price cuts, offering another sign that the EV market is weakening.
As of 11:45 a.m. ET, the stock was down by 2% on the news after having been down by as much as 5.5% earlier in the session.
Image source: Fisker.
Fisker slashes (some) EV prices
In a press release Monday, Fisker said it would lower U.S. prices on the Ocean Extreme from $68,999 to $61,499, and it will give customers who have already ordered the vehicles a $7,500 price adjustment. It will cut prices in Canada by a similar percentage.
Separately, it opened all 2024 orders for the Fisker Ocean and said it would raise prices on the lower-priced Fisker Ocean Ultra and Sport trim levels on Nov. 6, a move that's designed to drive new orders before then.
"It is essential that Fisker responds to competitive realities in the rapidly growing EV market," said CEO Henrik Fisker. "We want our customers to have greater access to the Ocean and to be able to take advantage of its exciting combination of innovative features, striking design, sustainable materials, and class-leading range."
Is Fisker stock in trouble?
The ongoing price war in the EV industry is likely to have the greatest impact on start-ups like Fisker, which has only just started delivering its vehicles, though it aims to be delivering 300 Ocean SUVs per day by the end of the year. As of a month ago, it had manufactured 5,000 Fisker Oceans.
If the carmaker can achieve that goal, investors are likely to respond favorably, but the signs at an industry level continue to indicate a slowdown in demand. Additionally, based on the comments Elon Musk made during his company's third-quarter earnings call last week, the Tesla CEO appears bent on driving EV prices even lower.
Facing off against young peers like Rivian and Lucid as well as legacy automakers, success for Fisker won't be easy, as competition is intense and the price war seems to be heating up.
Investors interested in Fisker should keep an eye on that 300-vehicle-per-day delivery target as well as broader demand trends in the EV industry.
