[Dutch]

On February 21, only two weeks ago, we were told by Marti Eulberg via e-mail that the start of deliveries had slipped from April to (late?) May:

'Depending on when your deposit was received, you will be receiving your Fisker Karma between May and October this year.'

Today I read these remarks by Bernard Koehler:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20040138-48.html

'Fisker will deliver its first cars in the United States in July, Koehler said, though "some VIPs may get the car in June.'

Looks like another two months have been added in two weeks time, just like that. I cannot say that I'm amused. If you need more time for finetuning the car, please tell us and we will understand. But keeping the start of production on March 21, but at the same time moving delivery dates back and back without any explanation is very annoying.

Sorry, I have waited for more than three years now, and never once spoke badly about Fisker Automotive. I actually defended them against criticism on many forums and blogs. But now even I have to say that this is no way to treat your customers.

 

[brian]

Yeah, my dealer told me they'll be getting their 1st cars in July as well.

-Brian

 

[Soflauthor]

Yeah, my dealer told me they'll be getting their 1st cars in July as well.

-Brian

If you think about the ramp-up required for Valmet to get to meaningful production rates—say, 450 cars per month—and production actually does begin in late March, you can guestimate the following production levels:

April: 150 cars (assuming no major quality, assembly or supplier problems)
May: 250 cars (most of which will go to dealers for demos worldwide with a few going to very high profile customers))
June: 400 cars (this is, IMO, optimistic, but first Karmas delivered to VIP customers)
July: 400 - 500 cars (Karmas go to low numbers on the list)
August: 500 cars ...

This would put my wait at 37 months, if I'm lucky. I just hope the quality and driveability of the car justifies the wait. Otherwise, Fisker will have a major PR problem on its hands.

 

[Dutch]

I think you are correct about the slow start. Fisker also stated this in its e-mail of two weeks ago:

''To ensure quality is paramount, we will have a slow ramp-up.''

So March will probably see the production of just a few cars, and for April and May you might be close with your figures of 150 and 250, which would be more than enough for demonstration car, dealers cars and the few VIP's (who would get their cars at the end of June then, as Koehler said).

But I do think that in the remainder of the year, if there are no major problems, the production rate will increase more sharply than you anticipate. Fisker has always stated that the intention is to deliver cars to all deposit holders (3000) before October. Maybe they will not reach that now, but delivery to every deposit holder in 2011 should be possible.

Koehler actually in the same interview reaffirmed the delivery of 7000 cars this year. That can only be possible if production reaches 1000+ cars per month in the last months of the year. That would be quite an achievement (it's the same number per month as Tesla had produced so far), so let's hope this figure/deadline will finally stick.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

Looks like another two months have been added in two weeks time, just like that. I cannot say that I'm amused. If you need more time for finetuning the car, please tell us and we will understand. But keeping the start of production on March 21, but at the same time moving delivery dates back and back without any explanation is very annoying.

Sorry, I have waited for more than three years now, and never once spoke badly about Fisker Automotive. I actually defended them against criticism on many forums and blogs. But now even I have to say that this is no way to treat your customers.

It's rather easy to imagine the meetings at which things like this are discussed... (insert video effects for "imagination" here)

Marketer: "Well, the demo in California went off pretty well, except for the sound of the engine when in Sport mode, as we expected. What's up with the new mufflers and stuff?"

Engineer: "They haven't even arrived yet, we don't know how well they'll work or if we'll have to add more soundproofing material and/or reroute some of the heat pipes."

Marketer: "So it'll be another two weeks on the delivery time?"

Engineer: "We DON'T KNOW."

Marketer: "Ah, another three weeks then."

(exit imagination mode)

Of course Fisker is a small company and won't be as screwed up about these things as a big one but it's still a nightmare when you're trying to ramp up production at the same time you're trying to fix a problem and you are not sure exactly what it will require to fix it.

If I were making these decisions (fortunately I'm not ) I'd probably say, OK, we'll delay it at most one more month and then we'll start production even if we have to make a major change after that; and if we deliver cars with loud Sport mode, we'll rework them, or even exchange them, for free for those customers that want it, once we have the problem really fixed. Anyone who wants to wait can do so, we'll deliver cars to those who don't want to wait, etc.

In my own case, since I have not even pre-ordered (I insist on test driving one first...), I obviously won't be one of the first to get one. But I like not being the first to get things: there are always bugs / glitches with anything entirely new like this.

The company's small size works for them in terms of getting things done and fixed, but against them in terms of getting information out. It's certainly frustrating, being so close you can taste it, but at the same time so far....

Chris