That's not gone well, Fisker.

JohnnyRacer

JohnnyRacer

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-fisker-idUSTRE8161BE20120207

Fisker announces layoffs, renegotiates loan. Electric car startup Fisker Automotive Inc said on Monday it has suspended work at its U.S. manufacturing plant and laid off 26 workers there while it renegotiates the terms of its $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The company has also let go about 40 workers, mostly engineering contractors, at its Anaheim, California headquarters, a spokesman said.

The company has received $193 million of the federal loan so far, it said in a statement. Most of those funds have supported the rollout of its first vehicle, a $102,000 plug-in hybrid sportscar called the Karma that was plagued with production delays and a recent recall.

Fisker's Wilmington, Delaware plant, a former General Motors Co (GM.N) factory, is expected to manufacture the company's second vehicle, a sedan known as the Nina. The $336 million balance of its DOE loan is intended to fund that car, Fisker said.

Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher would not elaborate on the reasons it was seeking revised terms for its government loan, but a DOE spokesman cited delays in getting the Karma to market.

"Our loan guarantees have strict conditions in place to protect taxpayers. The Department only allows the loan to be disbursed as the company meets certain milestones and demonstrates results," DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said.

"The Department is working with Fisker to review a revised business plan and determine the best path forward so the company can meet its benchmarks, produce cars and employ workers here in America."

Energy Department loans and loan guarantees have been under heightened scrutiny from lawmakers since solar panel company Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in September after receiving a $535 million government loan in 2009.

Last month, Fisker ratcheted down its sales projections for 2012, saying it expected to sell about 10,000 Karmas. It had originally hoped to sell 15,000 vehicles.

Fisker is still aiming to begin production of the Nina in 2013, Ormisher said, though he said the company would give an exact timeline once it restarts work at the Delaware plant.

In addition to the federal loan, Fisker has raised more than $850 million from private investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Advanced Equities and Qatar Investment Authority. That includes $260 million raised late last year, Fisker said.

The fledgling automaker was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a onetime Aston Martin designer.

The company is one of a slew of automakers betting heavily on hybrids and pure electric vehicles. Major carmakers including GM and Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) already have electric cars on the road, though the push for greener cars has also ushered in a host of venture-backed startups like Fisker and Tesla Motors Inc
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Do they seriously think they're going to sell 10,000 Karmas even? I admit to not seeing sales figures, but I had no idea they really had that capacity or demand.
 
I saw three of them in Dallas in one day.
 
I've seen one, which is pitiful considering that Boston is one of the most progressive areas in the country, one that gulps up hybrids and Nissan Leafs.
 
Why do you say it's a car of idiots? From what I've seen, the Karma is a great car.
 
If Fisker folds, someone seriously needs to buy the rights to the design and build it with Ford's new 5 liter V8 powering it!
 
Eunos_Cosmo said:
Why do you say it's a car of idiots? From what I've seen, the Karma is a great car.
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The ship of fools is an allegory that has long been a fixture in Western literature and art. The allegory depicts a vessel populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction.
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Car of Idiots is the modern version. :p
 
duckedtapedemon said:
Do they seriously think they're going to sell 10,000 Karmas even? I admit to not seeing sales figures, but I had no idea they really had that capacity or demand.
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I thought they were planning on 10,000 cars total (Karmas and the Nina they're tooling up for). But I've seen a few different quotes of 10,000 Karmas. That's definitely a little uh, ambitious. :lol:

Spectre said:
Car of Idiots is the modern version. :p
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I think Colin Powell would disagree. ;)
 
Spectre said:
He isn't on the Fisker board that I know of. He invested, but doesn't hold a leadership position.
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He does own one though. I got to check one out at a couple of recent events and it seems pretty neat. Way outside my price range though.
 
Guys, the "car of idiots" doesn't refer to the buyers or owners of actual cars but the inept management. They had access to over 1.3 billion in funding and have apparently blown it all.
 
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THGL said:
If Fisker folds, someone seriously needs to buy the rights to the design and build it with Ford's new 5 liter V8 powering it!
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Exactly, the car looks brilliant, it would be sad to see it disappear, it just needs a regular engine to sell as a cash cow to support the electric version.
 
Spectre said:
Car of Idiots is the modern version. :p
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Well, the original ship of fools was written by a conservative to make fun of and warn before what he saw as the vices and stupidities of then-modern life.
Every chapter of the book presented one of the "fools" traveling on the ship, representing one perceived wrong of society. Like, for example "the female fool with the too short skirt" or "the fool who farts in public" (the first example is taken from the book, with the second one I'm not so sure - and I can't be arsed to actually dig out my facsimile now). So in the car of idiots you'd find "the idiot who buys a Hybrid" and "the idiot who puts all his life online" and maybe even "the managing idiot who blows three billion in funding" - but as the "ship" in the original context is a symbol for society as a whole, you a) can't say the "car of idiots" only carries the management of Fisker and worse b) you are saying American society as a whole, from the far left to the far right, is best symbolized by a commercially failed electric sports sedan.
 
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Uh oh, I guess that Fisker dealership in Santa Monica will be closing soon
 
THGL said:
If Fisker folds, someone seriously needs to buy the rights to the design and build it with Ford's new 5 liter V8 powering it!
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pepitko said:
Exactly, the car looks brilliant, it would be sad to see it disappear, it just needs a regular engine to sell as a cash cow to support the electric version.
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I said just as much to Spectre just the other day. We will all get a chance to find out more about the Karma in 10 days or so's time as........

......James May will be reviewing it in TG 18x04!
 
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