The bullet is through the church: the American Fisker is going to build the Ocean in Europe. Magna Steyr’s Austria-based factory has signed a deal with Fisker.
Fisker hopes to become a global player in the electric car market with the Ocean. Europe is a very important target area in this respect; the embrace of EVs is going fast here. In that case, European production is a big plus. Previous reports of a memorandum of understanding between Fisker and Magna Steyr turned out to be more than rumors. In conversation with Forbes Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker declares that the deal is closed. It is more than a production deal: “This decision stems from a deep strategic partnership with Magna. This includes Magna taking a six percent stake in Fisker and Magna to build the Ocean, which is still on track for the fourth quarter. from 2022. “
In addition to production in Austria, they also want the Ocean to run off the production line in the home country of the United States and China. So the brand is betting high. In any case, the Ocean already looks promising on paper. The electric SUV has a battery pack on board with a capacity of at least 80 kWh and must be able to cover 500 km on one charge. The intended Tesla Model Y competitor combines electric driving, as we often see, with a strong sporty character. The top version should be able to shoot up to 96 km / h (60 mph) in 2.9 seconds. Of course there will also be milder versions. With a provisional target starting price of € 37,500 converted, it is all in all (on paper) possible another formidable competitor to Tesla. We’re going to see, but this deal with Magna is at least a very serious step.
Chances are that after the Ocean more models will follow that will see the light of day in Austria. Fisker wants to have four models in the line-up by 2025. In any case, Fisker is in the right place at Magna for the production of his cars. It is of course no stranger to the automotive industry. Magna (which has decades of experience) is currently responsible for the production of the Jaguar i-Pace and the BMW 5-series, among others. The Mercedes-Benz G-class has been built there since 1979. The Fisker Ocean must therefore be added to this in 2022.