Is Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD, responsible for the poor financial health of Fisker, the company that sells its Ocean electric car particularly in Europe? The story is not that simple, but the American manufacturer, on the verge of bankruptcy, would have tried to put pressure on the YouTuber after a video that was catastrophic for the brand’s image.
Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) is a very famous Youtuber, if not the most famous Youtuber in the entire world. A few weeks ago, the American tried the Fisker Ocean, a 100% electric car which is notably sold in France. But, nothing happened as planned. So much so that the video (viewed 4.9 million times currently) is simply titled “ It’s the worst car I’ve ever driven“. It sets the scene.
We imagine that such a bomb caused a wave of panic at Fisker. It must be said that the manufacturer has been in a very bad financial situation for several months, and that the slightest slip-up could send it straight into the wall.
Fisker tries to put out the fire… with gasoline
And in fact, a few days after the video test was posted online, the dealer who lent the Fisker Ocean to Marques Brownlee received a call from the manufacturer. The dealership filmed this call, which can be found on its TikTok account. The content is simply mind-blowing.
A man, who introduces himself as a Fisker engineer, is heard calling the dealership for Marques Brownlee’s contact information. He assures that he just wants to send a technician to update the car. But in this video, lasting 6 minutes, the engineer announces that the long-awaited update 2.0 will not solve all the problems of the Fisker Ocean. That additional work will still be required on the software part.
This video, which has gone viral, has been viewed more than 6.1 million times since it was posted online. We contacted Fisker Europe to find out the manufacturer’s opinion on the subject and to find out if this call was genuine. The brand just told us “ born do not comment“.
Bankruptcy in the viewfinder
Following the publication of the video of the test (February 18, 2024), the Fisker share price fell drastically. But it’s hard to say if it’s just the effect of this video, or also of all the bad news surrounding the company in recent weeks. A few days after the video, on March 1, 2024, Fisker published its (very poor) financial results. Enough to also hurt the share price.
So is Marques Brownlee responsible for Fisker’s financial situation? Clearly, the answer is no. Without MKBHD, Fisker would have had the same financial problems. But it is true that the MKBHD test must have had an impact on sales of the Fisker Ocean in the United States.
In Europe, the Fisker Ocean sells. Not much, but it sells. There have been a few dozen copies in France since the start of 2024.
For our part, we tried it in the summer of 2023, with one of the first versions of the software part. In all honesty, it was one of the worst car tests we could have done, as we told at the end of our video. In question: the vision of Henrik Fisker, in total denial of software problems.
Bankruptcy Update 2.0
We will publish, in the coming days, an updated version of the test, with the famous update 2.0 supposed to resolve many problems. But this could have come too late. Fisker is already preparing for the future, with a huge sale of its electric cars. What if the problem actually came not from car reviews and software issues, but from management at Fisker? In any case, this is what this incredible story of uncashed checks relates.
In any case, we hope that the history of the Fisker brand will end better than in 2013. The date on which Fisker experienced its first bankruptcy. Before rising from the ashes in 2016 with the form we currently know.