The American car brand Canoo has gone bankrupt. The management owes several creditors between 10 and 50 million dollars – each. Yet the CEO received a staggering salary.
American car brand Canoo has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States, leaving the company with only $50,000 left.
Founded in 2017, Canoo had big ambitions to revolutionize the electric car market. Their vision was to produce electric cars for both families and the transportation sector. They developed a lifestyle car that could function as a minibus, pickup truck, and transporter.
Despite promising plans, Canoo failed to achieve success. The company managed to produce only a limited number of cars, and revenue in 2023 was just $6.5 million. A third of this revenue came from the sale of three cars to the state of Oklahoma.
Canoo had hoped to receive financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy's loan program, but its application was rejected. Without additional financing, bankruptcy was inevitable.
Canoo owes between $10 million and $50 million to 49 different creditors. Unfortunately, there is no prospect of the creditors getting their losses covered.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a more final form of bankruptcy than Chapter 11, and it means that the company must now be liquidated.
– We would like to thank the company's employees for their dedication and hard work. We know that you believed in our company, as we did.
"We are truly disappointed that everything turned out the way it did," said Canoo director Tony Aquila in a press release .
Aquila has been the subject of criticism for several years because he has provided himself with high salaries and a private jet despite the company's financial problems.
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According to TechCrunch, however, there is money in the bankruptcy estate to refund customers who have reserved electric cars.
Canoo's bankruptcy is yet another example of the challenge of establishing itself in the electric car market. Several other electric car manufacturers have had to turn the key in recent years, including Fisker, Lordstown and HipHi.
Canoo experienced a period of great success on the stock market, with the company's value increasing significantly. However, that success was short-lived, and Canoo ended up going bankrupt.
