Tesla (TSLA) may have a firm grip on the U.S. electric vehicle market, but every week there is a new challenger emerging ready to take a bite out of the market pie.
The Model 3 sedan was the turning point for mainstream adoption. The budget sedan from what had been a luxury EV car brand transformed Tesla into a household name, leaving competitors in the space in the dust.
Model 3 launched with a $35,000 price tag in 2017 and Tesla hasn't looked back since. The Model 3 was Europe's best-selling car in September.
Success breeds imitators and the Model 3's early success has bred a new generation of competitors, with General Motors (GM) vowing the achieve top EV market share with its Chevy Bolt vehicle.
Enter upstart Fisker (FSR), which is now ready to throw its hat in the affordable EV ring.
Fisker Takes Reservations for Project PEAR
Fisker shared more information about Project PEAR during its fourth quarter earnings release, announcing that it has started taking reservations for its five-passenger EV that has a starting price of $29,900 before incentives and taxes.
Reservations start at $250 initially with a second reservation at a later date costing another $100.
The pricing may give the late come an advantage over the Model 3, which now starts at about $40,000 for the base model.
"Think about what's going to happen in the next two years. All this market share is going to be up for grabs," CEO Henrik Fisker said during his company's earnings call this week.
"And if we are having a vehicle among the very few, we will have the ability to take a much larger market share than we normally would have if you would have 50 competitors and we don't. All these competitors that everybody's talking about is coming out with $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 plot cars. We are coming out with vehicles in segment that nobody's even in, and nobody's even announced the next two years."
The Fisker Pear (PEAR originally stood for Personal Electric Automotive Revolution) will be built in Ohio with a production rate of at least 250,000 vehicles per year.
Fisker Remains Mum on Vehicle Details
Fisker has revealed the details of only one vehicle to date, its Fisker Ocean SUV. That vehicle is scheduled to begin production in November with deliveries to follow soon after.
The Pear is slated to go on sale in 2024, but details about the vehicle have ben scant so far.
We do know the vehicle will be a compact, five-passenger crossover, but past that, there is little known about the vehicle.
Competition may be the reason for the secrecy.
"Normally, I wouldn't mind unveiling it later this year, but this is so radical this vehicle. And I think if we can have a head start of a couple of years over anybody else, that's going to be phenomenal for the type of market share we can take," Fisker said.
"I think this vehicle has the potential of being iconic globally. It's designed not to fit in a segment, but to fit in a future lifestyle. And we just don't want to give that revolution away to anybody else."
The company says that it will unveil details about the vehicle next year.
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