Electric carmaker Fisker Automotive insists it is not using any part of a $529 million federal loan to fund manufacturing operations in Finland, where a contractor is building its first product, the $100,000 Karma sedan.
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Fisker, which plans to build its second line of hybrids in Delaware, responded Friday to an ABC News report that suggested the company was misusing the loan, issued by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Fisker Automotive CEO Henrik Fisker
Fisker Automotive claims that this is how it is using that $529 million DOE loan:
- $359 million of the loan is set aside for development of Fisker's upcoming Nina line in Delaware.
- $169 million is earmarked for Karma design and engineering.
Fisker also has had success in the private market, raising more than $600 million to date, a portion of which is footing the manufacturing bill, the company said in a statement.
Fisker Automotive said in a statement Friday
"Not a single dollar of the DOE loans has been, or will be, spent outside of America."
The company added that it has created hundreds of jobs at supplier outposts and Fisker locations in California and Delaware.
More than 100 are at work refurbishing the Newport-area plant formerly owned by General Motors, the company said.
A Fisker Automotive spokesperson said.
"Ultimately, Fisker is a high-tech American car company that we're confident will be an American success story to be celebrated."
The energy department, which acknowledged in a 2009 press release announcing Fisker's loan that the Karma would be built overseas but heavily sourced in the U.S., also pushed back against any accusations of malfeasance.
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Dan Leistikow, an energy department spokesman, wrote in a blog post late Thursday.
"While the cars themselves are being assembled in Fisker's existing overseas facility, the Department's funding was only used for the U.S. operations. The money could not be, and was not, spent on overseas operations."
The story, which was produced in cooperation with the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity, was published on ABC's website late Thursday and broadcast in a "Good Morning America" segment Friday.
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Fisker came under a firestorm of criticism after the report reached the Web, with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin weighing in from her Twitter account, tweeting,
"This is outrageous. Wake up, America."
Officials from Fisker spent Friday conducting damage control, including making contact with members of Delaware's congressional delegation and Gov. Jack Markell's office.
Markell spokesman Brian Selander said,
"Fisker made clear to us again today that they know those federal loan dollars need to be spent on American parts and American jobs."
Fisker intends to begin volume production in mid-2013 in Delaware, later than earlier indications. The company says it will turn out prototypes and early demonstration cars next year.
Fisker is holding to plans to employ 2,500 people here, directly and indirectly, and intends to ramp up Nina production to 100,000 cars annually. A sedan, SUV and coupe are planned, according to business plans filed with the energy department.
Analysts have called Fisker's production numbers too lofty, but Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker dismissed those concerns in an interview this week.
Fisker said.
"We've already defied the analysts a couple times."
Questions over Fisker's loan appear to be gaining steam partly because they come in the wake of the failure of Solyndra, the California-based solar-panel maker that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. Fisker's loan came from a separate pot of funds, the energy department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program.
Republicans unsuccessfully targeted the program for cuts last month. Emily Spain, a spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., suggested that criticism of Fisker was politically motivated.
Spain said.
"It's disappointing, but not surprising, that some are trying to use this misleading story for political gain in a desperate attempt to attack manufacturing jobs and clean-energy technology."
COMMENTARY: I have covered Fisker Automotive regularly in my blog, and have always felt that their Karma, a hybrid sedan was a well-designed sports sedan, so when I heard over the weekend that they were building the Karma in Finland, I was flabbergasted. It now turns out that the ABC News report implying that Fisker Automotive was misusing the $529 million Department of Energy loan by building the car in Finland proved to be false. The rumors were politically motivated to embarass President Obama, coming right after the heels of the Solyndra bankruptcy filing.
Still, I think Fisker Automotive should've built the first Karma sports sedan right here in the U.S. as a jesture of appreciation for being granted the loan. Those jobs could certainly help the economy when it needs it the most.
Nobody has actually seen Fisker Automotive's Nina, which is just a codename for the new proposed turbo-charged 4-door sports sedan. As far as it's known, not many people outside Fisker have seen the Nina. One who has is Vice President Joe Biden, who said.
"it looks like a four-door Ferrari, I can't believe it's only going to be $40,000."
Just as soon as I find out about the Nina, all of my blog fans will find out too.
BTW, Fisker says BMW will initially supply the turbo'd four-banger for the automaker's upcoming vehicles that fall under the tentative code name of "Project Nina," which are scheduled to enter the production cycle in late 2012 and be available globally in 2013. (This, of course, may change.)
BMW turbocharged 4-cylinder engine to be used in Fisker's Nina
This agreement calls for BMW to manufacture up to 100,000 engines a year for Fisker, with the first of the turbo'd fours showing up in what Fisker says will be a mid-size premium sedan with extended-range technology. Here's the Fisker Automotive press release announcing the BMW deal.
Fisker Automotive Signs Supplier Agreement With BMW
ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fisker Automotive announced today the signing of an agreement with BMW that will cover the supply of engines and other components for future Fisker models.
BMW will supply a four-cylinder turbocharged engine for the next generation of Fisker cars, code-named 'Project Nina', which are scheduled to go into production in the re-commissioned former GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware at the end of 2012 and be on sale globally in 2013.
The agreement calls for up to 100,000 engine units per year at peak volume.
The first 'Project Nina' derivative will be a mid-size premium sedan utilizing Fisker's EVer™ (electric vehicle with extended range) technology to deliver on Fisker's corporate vision of Uncompromised Responsible Luxury.
Fisker 's CEO and Executive Design Director, Henrik Fisker, comments; "The BMW engine was an obvious choice for us, as BMW is known for producing the best and most fuel efficient gasoline engines in the world. We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with BMW."
Fisker's Chief Operating Officer, Bernhard Koehler, adds; "This is an important agreement for Fisker. We are focused on building environmentally responsible cars that deliver Pure Driving Passion to our discerning customers. Who better to be a part of this exciting 'recipe' than BMW – the makers of the Ultimate Driving Machine?"
California-based Fisker Automotive recently established a European office in Munich, Germany and has publicly stated that both the Fisker Karma Sedan and 'Project Nina' lines are global vehicles with sales likely to be split equally in the US and Europe (40% each), with Asia (20%) providing the remainder.
Courtesy of an article dated October 22, 2011 appearing in Delaware Online and an article dated September 1, 2011 appearing in Auto Blog Green
What a cool car! I hope they would go on with this project. It is definitely the best top of the line technology in cars.
Posted by: CGS intake | 11/13/2011 at 05:17 PM