Fisker Automotive takes posession of former GM factory to build plug-in hybrids

[Right Lane Cruiser]

The awe inspiring Karma just got one step closer to arriving in customer hands

Sean Welch - CleanMPG - July 20, 2010

American automaker Fisker Automotive yesterday finalized its purchase of a former GM factory where it will build plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The southern California-based company is now in full possession of the 3.2 million square foot Wilmington Assembly plant in Wilmington, Delaware, for which it paid Motors Liquidation Company (MLC) $20 million. MLC is the holding company formed by General Motors Corporation’s bankruptcy.

The purchase is supported by a $528.7 million Department of Energy loan for the development of two lines of plug-in hybrids.

The Wilmington plant will be home to Project NINA, Fisker’s second line of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and where Fisker expects to ultimately create more than 2,000 factory jobs.

“This is a major step toward creating thousands of manufacturing jobs and restoring America as a leader in the global auto industry,” said Bernhard Koehler, COO, Fisker Automotive. “Wilmington will be instrumental in fulfilling our plans to export more than half of Fisker premium plug-in hybrid production to global markets.”

Fisker announced its intent to acquire the idled factory in October 2009. A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale last month.

The Wilmington Assembly plant opened in 1947 and produced more than 8.5 million vehicles before closing in mid 2009.

ABOUT FISKER AUTOMOTIVE, INC.

Fisker Automotive is a privately owned, premium American car company creating environmentally conscious vehicles with passion, style and performance. Global headquarters are in Irvine, California, USA.

The company was created in 2007 to leverage the design capabilities of Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, founded by auto design veterans Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, and the PHEV powertrain capabilities of Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ-QTWW), a major Tier 1 supplier of clean vehicle technologies to automotive OEMs.

Previously, Fisker, CEO, was a board member and design director for Aston Martin, as well as president and CEO of BMW’s DesignworksUSA. Koehler, COO, led operations for Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio and created concept cars for Aston Martin, MINI and BMW.

[robert]

This is pork barrel politics in spades.
The huge amount of government monies granted to allow this to happen is an outrage.
So the tax payers...paid for that land and building already...now they present this as innovation...money earmarked for green technology.
Yupper, that's another CEO and group that is getting mega rich off the USA tax-payers.
Delaware...as a project site...that's ridiculous....the cost of heating/cooling that plant is going to add the manufacturing costs 26% on capital upkeep.
Plant needs to be totally refitted to lower monthly overhead....taxpayers paying for that too...just so these hybird toys can be built...close to Washington, DC.
Well that will save us a few dollars!!!

Robert

[MaxxMPG]

The Delaware plant is a good site for the Fisker. It was a GM plant, building the Chevy Malibu until 1998, and the Saturn LS until 2005. After the Saturn L was dropped, the plant was heavily retooled and modernized (millions in equipment added) for the Solistice/Sky/Opel GT Kappa cars. The location is perfect for a few reasons - mainly close proximity to transportation (trains, seaports, highways) and to the major markets of the Northeast where many waiting buyers live. With all the money GM poured into the plant in 2006-2007, and considering the fact that Fisker could get the plant for pennies on the dollar (being an asset of The Old GM), it works out to be a good deal. It's not much different than buying a newly-remodeled foreclosure home in a good neighborhood.

Whether or not Fisker succeeds remains to be seen. But it is encouraging to see them move closer to production and sales, because each new company brings new methods and technologies to the automotive world. And the best of these are adopted (copied) by other automakers. So whether or not Fisker is still here in 10 years, the miles of real-world driving of their cars will help the market to decide which EV technologies work and which are not practical for personal transportation.