In Europe Fisker Inc will produce the Ocean SUV in collaboration with Magna. As Fisker Inc. prepares for the market launch of its first model, the Ocean SUV in November this year, it is setting up its first India entity, a global technology centre, in Hyderabad. The company has started recruitment for the centre, and plans to have a team of 300 engineers, working primarily on software technologies. “Software development is a big strength in India,” Henrik Fisker, chairman and CEO, Fisker Inc, told ETAuto. Fisker didn’t share more information about the centre, but a formal announcement is expected in the next few weeks.
Fisker Inc. also plans to tap India as a market with a production base. The manufacturing operations will be done by the company’s partner Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer. The partnership between the companies is for manufacturing Pear in the US, Europe, India, and China.
“Why India and China? Because this vehicle will start at under USD 30,000 (around INR 22 lakh). So, it will be affordable, yet spacious with new types of storage spaces, and technology not seen in its segment. And we can accomplish that if only we make a million vehicles a year,” Henrik Fisker said.
Fisker, an acclaimed designer responsible for models like BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9, is passionate and bullish about Pear, which will be the volume model for the company. “We’re not making just another car; we are making a future mobility device. And that’s the key here,” Fisker, who believes that “emotional, exciting vehicles don’t have to be expensive,” said.
Indians are extremely tech savvy. I think, India at one point, nobody knows when, but at one point is going to explode in the adoption of electrificationHenrik Fisker
The location for the manufacturing plant in India is yet to be decided, but Fisker, who also has a personal connection with India (his wife Geeta Fisker hails from India), is bullish about the prospects of electric vehicles (EVs) in India. “Indians are extremely tech savvy. I think, India at one point, nobody knows when, but at one point is going to explode in the adoption of electrification,” Fisker said. “Of course, the government has a big role in that. But I do think there’s going to be pressure from the general population at one point in time to go electric,” he added.The sustainability pitch
Along with the electric technology, Fisker Inc. pitches itself as a maker of vehicles with high sustainability quotients. The Ocean SUV, for example, has vegan interiors, and the cabin’s carpet and floor mats are made of recycled fishing nets fished out of oceans.
In a statement issued earlier, Fisker Inc. said it ‘will continuously analyse, study, measure and innovate all five phases of a vehicle life cycle: sourcing, manufacturing, logistics, use phase and end-of-life recycling and reuse.’
The company has set a target of 2027 to produce a carbon neutral vehicle. The sustainability pitch, Fisker said, is more than “talking and marketing. We have an internal group of people, who are going out to our suppliers and giving them clear guidelines on what they have to do to become a supplier.”
America’s EV makers in India
Fisker Inc. is not the only American EV company planning to tap the potential in India. Tesla is also planning to have a presence in India, since the past few years. In response to a tweet asking about an update on Tesla’s expected presence in India, Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk replied on January 13th, ‘Still working through a lot of challenges with the government’.
However, Fisker Inc hopes it wouldn’t face any hurdles in its plans for India. “I think we will get to India with production of the Fisker Pear along with Foxconn before Tesla starts production of its vehicles in India,” Fisker said. It’s not yet clear if Tesla also will have manufacturing operations in India.
Playing the volume game
The NYSE-listed Fisker Inc., which raised over a billion dollars in 2020, plans to add products like a supercar and other models in the upper end of the price spectrum. The Ocean SUV and the Pear, which will serve as “the foundation of the company”, will have to get the volumes, Fisker said.
While Pear’s entry price will be below USD 30,000 (around INR 20 lakh), the Ocean SUV is priced between USD37,000 (around INR 27 lakh) and USD 69,000 (around INR 51 lakh). With the locally made Pear, Fisker Inc. looks to compete with volume players like Hyundai and MG.
The Ocean SUV will be the first Fisker model to be launched in India. It will be brought in through the fully built import route initially, and may later be assembled in its India plant, depending on its market demand.
Fisker says the Ocean SUV has received over 25,000 bookings so far from different markets, including India. He expects the company to reach an annual sales volume of 250,000 units in the next couple of years.
The EV market in India is on the rise, with sales of over 3 lakh units across segments in 2021. The sale of electric cars was only around 14,000. With new products lined up for launch by all the existing electric passenger vehicle makers, the segment is expected to grow. What will be the numbers that could get added by the entry of players like Tesla and Fisker, only time will tell. However, they would add a new dimension to the appeal of the electric car segment.
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