Arcimoto

[RSchneider]

Hopefully, if there is three wheeler startup company that crosses the production finish line with proven pre-order market demand for their vehicle, they aren’t following Yugo’s ‘s business model. It seems the overall appeal of a three wheeler is similar to the Yugo’s marketing strategy: Extremely basic, cheap/affordable, and its primary purpose functional transportation. You get what you pay for.

All depends on the size of the market demand. For example Arcimoto has found out the market demand is smaller than what they thought. Instead of starting small and see what it turns out to be, then go from there, they tried to get instantly big. On the other hand, when you crowdfund or sell stock, you just have to make big plans and hope they pan out. If you use the method of start off small, then people are not that excited when it comes to investing.

Look at Vanderhall, they were privately funded and have built the business to meet the market demand. To me that's the way to do it. When I watched how Arcimoto did it, it was wrong and today we see that it is. Elio had even greater grand plans and now we see that didn't work either. Aptera is next in line and we will see how that works out. So far, their original projections are not panning out. Just like Elio, the delay in those plans sends up a number of red flags.

I hope that one day someone else will be able to be like Vanderhall. Yes, I know only the super rich can afford it and that it's an open cockpit vehicle than requires a massively high step to get in and out of. They stuck with it, are selling them, offer free test drives and have a nationwide service/parts/warranty network. I know there are many in the three wheeler world that are very specific on how their three wheeler needs to be. That tells me, no matter what anyone makes, it will always be a low volume niche vehicle. No problem with that, just plan accordingly.

 

[Mark BEX]

That tells me, no matter what anyone makes, it will always be a low volume niche vehicle. No problem with that, just plan accordingly.

As indeed I am :-)

 

[Rickb]

I’m fine with low volume, ‘high price‘ tag for styling, quality parts/materials, fit and finish build quality, but also have personal performance and driver comfort, local parts and service requirements. I‘m likely stuck with a car as my sole source of transportation. I was hoping for Toyota to roll out their i-Road concept, Carver, Elio, Persu Motors, Lit Motor‘s C-1, ElectraMeccanica, Nobe, had hopes for owning the FUV…..the only concept that I was able to test drive and crossed the production finish line……turned out to be a low to no volume, but super fun to drive utility vehicle. Currently waiting on a test drive opportunity at my local BEX sales and service dealership

 

[Mark BEX]

Sad to see that appointed Arcimoto warranty repair shops are refusing to do work on Arcimotos because the factory won't (or can't) pay them for work they have already done.

 

[RSchneider]

Sad to see that appointed Arcimoto warranty repair shops are refusing to do work on Arcimotos because the factory won't (or can't) pay them for work they have already done.

I seen that too. At least one of the shops explained it. Things like waiting 60+ days to get paid and long lead times on parts. They gave up and will stop working on FUV's at the end of the month. Add into that, FUV getting sued for non payment to contractors, it's not looking good.

On a positive note, an all expense paid trip to PR for an investor summit next week! Maybe an investor will throw a bunch of money their way and they can pay everyone they owe.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-...co.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[RSchneider]

I decided to look into the Arcimoto FB group. People are really happy with the service. Even in Eugene, no service until Feb 6. Then the main guy out on the west coast for service is gone. A rental service in LV needs parts and service but no word from Arcimoto. Someone else is willing to pay out of pocket for a repair (for a charger board) but those seem to be NLA. Others are waiting on brakes that seem to make it no longer than 10K. Sounds like all is well as they announced a manufacturing deal for another company. Maybe when that gets up and running, they can get back to customer service.

 

[Elio Amazed]

I decided to look into the Arcimoto FB group. People are really happy with the service. Even in Eugene, no service until Feb 6. Then the main guy out on the west coast for service is gone. A rental service in LV needs parts and service but no word from Arcimoto. Someone else is willing to pay out of pocket for a repair (for a charger board) but those seem to be NLA. Others are waiting on brakes that seem to make it no longer than 10K. Sounds like all is well as they announced a manufacturing deal for another company. Maybe when that gets up and running, they can get back to customer service.

This from an FUV owner today (From the FB FUV Club): "Got through this morning to one of the techs phones, He said Unfortunately most of the employees have been furloughed including him. Can't get needed part, no support, no help. For how long, unknown".

 

[RSchneider]

This from an FUV owner today (From the FB FUV Club): "Got through this morning to one of the techs phones, He said Unfortunately most of the employees have been furloughed including him. Can't get needed part, no support, no help. For how long, unknown".

Those furloughed employees at FUV need to get together with the ones that Elio furloughed back at the end of 2016. Looks like a bunch of people with efficient three wheeler experience are all sitting around waiting for the call to come back. New company could be called, Arcielio.

 

[RSchneider]

Good to see they filed their SEC filing (third quarter 2023)
They were able to sell $1.1M in product (this counts everything)
They lost $14M
They had $262K in cash
The mortgage on the building is at 20% interest
No sales numbers (they used to report this but stopped)
TMW still loses money
Rental still loses money
Losing less money from last year but payroll has been cut
Suppliers want partial prepayments on produce before they ship (as opposed to doing net 30)
Just for the FUV, they brought in $880K in revenue yet lost $7.2M (just 3rd quarter 2023)
Just for the FUV, they brought in $3.2M in revenue yet lost $21M (first 9 months of 2023)

I now see why they might not make it. Getting them on the street was to be a game changer, yet it has not. Now what do they do?

 

[Rickb]

Good to see they filed their SEC filing (third quarter 2023)
They were able to sell $1.1M in product (this counts everything)
They lost $14M
They had $262K in cash
The mortgage on the building is at 20% interest
No sales numbers (they used to report this but stopped)
TMW still loses money
Rental still loses money
Losing less money from last year but payroll has been cut
Suppliers want partial prepayments on produce before they ship (as opposed to doing net 30)
Just for the FUV, they brought in $880K in revenue yet lost $7.2M (just 3rd quarter 2023)
Just for the FUV, they brought in $3.2M in revenue yet lost $21M (first 9 months of 2023)

I now see why they might not make it. Getting them on the street was to be a game changer, yet it has not. Now what do they do?

There is only about 1000 FUVs on the street since the 2019 production start. Zero progress on the 2022 announcement of building the 1.x production scale prototype with the required mechanical refinements. The current platform has far too many reliability issues. Crap show management, sales, and service business model. Close it down and move on. It seems that if there was a market for a fully enclosed production 3 wheeler motorcycle, motorcycle manufacturers would‘ve had one on the market by now.