The Fisker Ocean Is a Reality. Why It’s Not Just Another EV.

Today is the day, the day when production of the all-electric

Fisker

(ticker: FSR) Ocean SUV begins.

Fisker

is not

Tesla

It’s a small EV start-up that will only deliver a handful of cars in 2022, but it’s still a big deal for the entire auto industry. That’s because Fisker isn’t actually building the car—it’s being manufactured by auto parts giant

Magna International

(MGA). It’s among the first EVs to be built by contract manufacturing—but it won’t be the last.

Having a third party isn’t unheard of in the car business. Magna has built cars for other auto makers, but vehicles auto makers choose to outsource are usually lower volume, niche cars. Auto makers always have their own assembly capacity, but Fisker doesn’t seem to ever want to own an automotive assembly plant.