Faraday Future says it doesn't need more funds to launch FF91 electric luxury car
15/06/2022 20:27
By Akash Sriram
June 15 (Reuters) - Faraday Future Intelligent Electric FFIE.O will be
able to launch its FF91 luxury vehicle without the need for additional funding,
Chief Executive Officer Carsten Breitfeld said on Wednesday in an interview
with Reuters.
Breitfeld added that the company would need to raise capital in the second
half of the year. At a Deutsche Bank conference earlier on Wednesday he said the
company was confident of securing additional funds despite tough macroeconomic
conditions.
Electric Last Mile Solutions ELMS.O filing for bankruptcy due to its
inability to raise additional funds has had investors worried about how balance
sheets of other startups fared. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2Y13I5
In May, Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN.O said that it had enough cash on hand
to open its Georgia factory in 2025, without the need for additional capital.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2X33MK
Faraday said it would start delivery of its FF91 car in the third quarter
this year and expects to make between 6,000 and 8,000 cars in 2023.
The company will follow a "hybrid strategy" in building its cars, Breitfeld
said, with the FF91 crossover being made at its Hanford, California facility and
the FF81 mass market vehicle built by contract manufacturer Myoung Shin
009900.KS .
It expects the FF91 luxury vehicle to compete with brands such as Rolls
Royce RR.L , Volkswagen Group's VOWG_p.DE Bentley and Mercedes Benz's
MBGn.DE Maybach.
Breitfeld said that Faraday would deliver cars with hardware required for
its autonomous driving technology. However, it would use software stack from a
third-party and drivers would get updates related to advanced driver assistance
systems (ADAS) capabilities over the air after launch.
Faraday also said it was in talks with local government and partners in
China to start production in the country. However, developments are at a nascent
stage.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
((Akash.Sriram@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/hoodieonveshti;))