Last week, company co-founder Henrik Fisker told reporters production will begin again “fairly soon.”

He gave no exact date for this, but confirmed recent reports Fisker is in talks with the Chinese buyer of A123 System’s business assets, auto parts giant, Wanxiang Group Co.

“We are negotiating with them,” Henrik Fisker said of Wanxiang and A123 in response to a question about Fisker again receiving batteries.

As for the A123 sale, last month, Wanxiang was approved to purchase most of A123’s assets by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment. The federal oversight was deemed necessary due to national security concerns.

Henrik Fisker was also asked but declined to share specifics about the search for new investors.

“We have several interested parties,” he added.

What is known is late last year Fisker hired Evercore Partners Inc. to aid it in its search to find potential investors or partners.

And prior to this, Fisker has done a decent job of raising venture capital, but plays its cards close to its chest, having become a favorite target by certain pundits who link the company with President Obama’s political agenda.

In a recent interview with HybridCars.com, for its part, Fisker said its agenda is the same: To become an American car manufacturer producing extended-range EVs, and the Atlantic is next up on its roster.

The company stopped worked involved in preparing its wholly owned Delaware assembly plant to build the upper mid-level Atlantic, and has long since said its aim is to produce this car in the U.S. and effectively prove naysayers incorrect.

Bloomberg

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The timing of the hiring (which coincided with the DOE’s decision to delay approximately $336 million in unreleased loan funds to carmaker,) seems to imply that the agency may have been particularly concerned with Fisker.

Since unveiling its Karma at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, Fisker has faced several well-documented setbacks, including missed production dates, the potential loss of the DOE loan money, and most recently, an unfortunate manufacturing flaw in the Karma’s A-123 Systems-supplied lithium ion battery pack. In recent months, Fisker has brought in a new CEO, downgraded its 2012 production estimate for the Karma from 12,000 to 4000, and talked publicly about the possibility of moving production of its next vehicle―the recently-unveiled Fisker Atlantic―outside of the United States.

Still, there has been positive news to report for the carmaker. Fisker has delivered about 800 Karmas in its first few months of production (a milestone that took fellow plug-in vehicle startup Tesla roughly a year to complete,) bringing in more than $100 million in much-needed revenue. The company also announced this month that it had successfully raised more than $300 million in private capital in its latest round of financing, bringing its total private investment to close to $1 billion.

The test for Fisker―with or without the DOE loans―has always been whether it can keep enough money coming in to finance production of the Atlantic, which still has no finalized manufacturing site, much less a fully-equipped assembly line. With $400 million in new money on hand, we can hopefully expect to see the carmaker take steps to remedy that in the near future.

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Fisker Automotive announced yesterday a significant expansion in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).

The California-based maker of the Karma and pending Atlantic signed an exclusive agreement with the Al-Futtaim Group, one of the region’s most experienced automotive distributors, to handle sales operations in these markets.

Al-Futtaim has more than 70 years of experience running automotive dealer networks and is a distributor for numerous brands across the MENA region, including Lexus, Volvo, Jeep, Toyota, Hino, Dodge, Honda, and Chrysler.

Fisker’s expansion in the region will begin this year in the United Arab Emirates by utilizing Al-Futtaim’s first regional flagship dealership in Dubai Festival City.

Through Al-Futtaim’s network of retailers, Fisker will quickly be able to reach customers in the U.A.E, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Egypt.

Fisker’s first vehicle to be sold in these markets will be the Fisker Karma sedan.

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Fisker Automotive recently closed on $392 million in private financing which is over twice what it had set out to achieve, and it now says it hopes to see this figure top half a billion.

A company spokesman was quoted by the Wall Street Journal this week as saying it first sought to raise $150 million, but filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show this was well exceeded.

Thus far Fisker has privately raised over $1 billion but it received unfavorable press when a U.S. Department of Energy low-interest loan for $529 million was frozen after $193 million was received.

Fisker has said one way or another it will succeed. One might observe also that if critics have objected to it taking taxpayer money, they may find less to complain about as Fisker is exceeding expectations in securing private investors’ trust in its plan to roll out extended-range electric cars.

The company has declined to say what amounts were specifically given by which parties, but previous investors have included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, New Enterprise Associates, A123 Systems, and others.

A123 Systems this time is known not to be participating in Fisker’s financial backing, and as its battery supplier, is undergoing a $55 million recall in automotive battery packs, and its stock has been trending down.

Fisker was founded in 2007 and has thus far delivered 650 of its Karma luxury sports cars in the U.S., Netherlands, and Germany, among other locations. It is showing its Nina project car badged as the Atlantic this week in New York which the company intends to build in GM’s former Boxwood plant in Wilmington, Del.

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Not long ago, Fisker Automotive took a public relations hit when a Karma battery failed during a Consumer Reports test, but its battery maker A123 Systems has now accepted responsibility and will replace all affected Karma packs at a cost of about $55 million.

In a press release today, Fisker said it has been working closely with A123 Systems regarding the power loss experienced by Consumer Reports. The problem was traced to the A123 battery pack and both companies immediately established teams to work together to find the root cause.

A123 Systems discovered a latent manufacturing defect in some prismatic cells made in its Livonia, Mich. facility that could result in battery underperformance and decreased durability.
As a result, A123 is replacing all impacted battery modules and packs for the Fisker Karma.

Following this discovery, Fisker is implementing upgrades to the VIP Customer Care Coverage included with the purchase of all 2012 model year Karmas. This new initiative will apply both to existing and future 2012 Model Year Karma customers and consists in a complete battery replacement at no cost for all affected 2012 Fisker Karma owners; plus a full vehicle warranty extension from 50 months/50,000 miles to 60 months/60,000 miles in North America. In Europe, coverage will be extended from 48 months/100,000 km to 60 months/100,000 km.

Fisker’s Quality SWAT Team has also been working aggressively on the next-generation vehicle software upgrade to improve customer experience, with a release planned in the next few days.

According to Fisker CEO Tom LaSorda, over 630 Karmas have been delivered to customers in North America and Europe since sales began at the end of last year.

The post Fisker Karma Battery Packs To Be Switched appeared first on HybridCars.com.

As it puts public relations setbacks behind it, Fisker Automotive is reportedly negotiating an additional $100 million in private funding and is on its way toward $1 billion in private equity raised to date.

According to a U.S. regulatory filing, the California-based automaker has secured $896 million as of Feb. 10, and Bloomberg reports that current talks for the sizable additional chunk are in progress, thus sources declined to be identified.

Following February reports that the U.S. Department of Energy froze Fisker’s $529 million low-interest loans because it did not meet a Karma production deadline, Fisker said it had options aside from taxpayer money, and it would seem this is so.

It remains to be seen whether Fisker can renegotiate the terms of the DOE loans. It has been observed that a cold wind has been blowing against it and other would-be recipients from the DOE’s loan programs following the failure of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, energy storage firm Beacon Power Corp and battery supplier Ener1.

As the DOE money had been, the private funds are primarily earmarked for Fisker’s plans to produce Project Nina vehicles at its rehabilitated former GM assembly plant in Wilmington, Del.

Fisker has high hopes for its extended-range electric 2013 Nina. The car is said to be sleekly styled, and is scheduled to be unveiled in concept form at the New York International Auto Show in a couple weeks.

Its price is to start at around $47,000 and Fisker has said after a suitable ramp-up period, it would like to build 100,000 copies per year of three variants ultimately to be revealed.

The company has had more than its share of delays of varying degrees, but if plans pan out, it will mean the new American automaker will be using a former GM plant to create competition for the Chevrolet Volt.

We’ve noted armchair critics have said the odds are long against it, but it is too soon to tell, and in speaking with its representatives, we know Fisker is not close to calling it quits. On the contrary, it has said a bumpy road is part of the ride, but it is still en route to the planned destination.

Bloomberg

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Last week Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher called to follow-up, and I asked when we’d get to see the pending 2013 Nina variants. He said “that’s a good question,” and that he’d have news soon.

And sure enough, Fisker said yesterday that it will reveal its long-anticipated extended-range EV platform April 3 at the New York Auto Show. We are unsure whether all three versions known to exist will be shown, or Fisker will highlight more details of a first iteration, then, as it has with the Karma, reveal other siblings at later dates.

The email we got was brief with a two-dimensional sketch, but it has previously been said these cars are quite eye-catching, and given Henrik Fisker’s past achievements, this would almost be expected.

That said, Fisker has caught a fair degree of public relations heat in light of minor Karma recalls, lower than projected EPA numbers, and price increases, among other complaints.

The goal of the Karma was to be a high-profile, lower volume intro to establish that the company could design world-class cars. Its upper-$40,000-plus Ninas are to be higher volume, and produced in its rehabbed former GM plant in Wilmington, Del.

Not much definitive is known about the Ninas as the cars have been kept from public – but that a sedan, coupe and crossover were already in the works was divulged when Vice President Joe Biden let the cat out of the bag at an appearance at the just-purchased Delaware plant in October 2009.

What is known is that rather than specifying a GM-based turbo four, as the Karma has, the Ninas are to utilize a four-cylinder gasoline-powered generator supplied by BMW to pair with its A123 System battery pack.

To those who perceive higher quality and smoothness from BMW – the GM engines can get kind of noisy when on the boil – this aspect may be good news.

In question with industry watchers however is the aforementioned contention that the Karma is as world-class as its maker presents, and unknown is how the Ninas will be received after the perceived foibles of its big brother.

Another criticism the aspiring American automaker has had to answer is that it built its Karma in Finland after taking the first one-third of a $529 million U.S. Department of Energy loan. But although it may not be clearly reported often enough, that the Karma would be outsourced was always fully disclosed prior to taking the money.

Further, Fisker says it has designated all of the first $193 million of the (now frozen) taxpayer funds to the Nina project, which is to create jobs in Delaware and secondarily jobs on the supply and distribution side of the endeavor.

We have heard a few sides of the debate about Fisker, and understand concerns over the government “picking winners” and “gambling” taxpayer money to get the aspiring U.S. manufacturer going.

Others have said subsidies and loans are a needed leg up in a stringent economic environment compounded by tens of thousands of pages of regulations presenting an effective gauntlet for any automaker to start from scratch.

To its credit, the green carmaker has had plausible answers to much of the mud thrown at it, and Fisker says it is still working toward the same goal it had when it started – to create an American-based brand with global impact.

We often hear people say off-the-cuff that this company will not make it. If you think so, can you make a case as to why? Or if you are optimistic, why is there reason to think along those lines?

Like everything else we report on, we are not advocating for, or hating against; we’re just following the story, and are interested in your thoughts as well.

The post Fisker To Reveal Project Nina At New York Auto Show appeared first on HybridCars.com.

There has been a lot said on the Internet about technical issues with the Fisker Karma, including a recall for a battery problem and software upgrades.

The latest has to do with a Karma bought by Consumer Reports that broke down before the magazine could even start its regular testing procedure. The issue, as explained here, was fixed within 48 hours.

Consumer Reports stated: “A ‘fault was found in the battery and inverter cable. Both were replaced as a unit.’ In other words, we now have a brand-new lithium-ion drive battery pack provided under warranty, though likely costing as much as a small, fuel-efficient car.”

In the wake of this PR nightmare for Fisker, a former employee was quoted under the cover of anonymity stating that the Karma was “rushed to market before it was market-ready in order to try to meet government milestones for a loan.”

That former employee is now reportedly working for another California-based electric vehicle startup, Coda, which incidentally produced job one this week.

The same former employee reportedly said it wasn’t uncommon for Fisker’s first cars to have technical issues and that it was an element in the decision to leave.

A quick survey of the forum sections of sites like FiskerBuzz shows posts in which users inquire about ways to deal with lights flashing, resetting procedures and reboots, lending credibility to the statement pertaining to the fact the car may not yet have been market-ready.

Tom LaSorda, Fisker’s newly appointed CEO, released a letter yesterday in which he states: “Quality and customer satisfaction are the top priority for Fisker Automotive.”

“With any new technology there will be a need for initial updates and refinements and we have demonstrated the ability to quickly resolve them on a case-by-case basis,” said LaSorda. “In addition, Fisker’s 24 hour VIP contact centers, retail network with a proven customer service track record and our comprehensive vehicle warranty are all designed to give you, our customers, complete peace of mind.

“It is important to understand that despite widespread publicity of a service issue with a car belonging to Consumer Reports last week, Karma performed exactly as it was designed to. The on-board diagnostics detected a fault and entered a protection mode that shut the car down to protect other components. We are sorry for the inconvenience this caused the customer, but we focused on getting the car back to them as swiftly as possible.

“All identified parts have been returned to Fisker for a full engineering analysis.”

The post Were Fisker Karmas Launched Too Quickly? appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Not long ago Fisker caught a lot of media heat for accepting a $529 million federal loan, but the company’s latest “bump in the road” is that it has only received $193 million of it, and the rest has now been frozen.

The remainder of the U.S. Department of Energy money was contingent upon Fisker producing a certain number of Karmas by an agreed-upon deadline, but other delays and recalls have slowed their proliferation considerably.

Because of the DOE’s funding freeze, Fisker has laid off 26 workers at its former GM plant in Delaware, but not before it completed “Phase One” of an approximately $175 million rehabilitation there.

Fisker has also laid off 40 employees from its Anaheim, Calif. headquarters, citing a flexible staffing arrangement which is not out of the norm for the auto industry – and most importantly – it is renegotiating terms with DOE officials so it can get its funding turned back on.

In a phone interview yesterday, Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher said he hopes a resolution can be reached soon. He said he could not divulge how many Karmas were to be made by now, or what new terms they were aiming for, but said about 1,500 have been built, and “a few hundred” have been delivered to the U.S.

Fisker has also accepted several million dollars from Delaware business development authorities, and layoffs from GM’s former Boxwood Road plant intended eventually to employ as many as 2,000 has raised concerns from those hoping for an automotive industry revival there.

“We are frustrated that Fisker and the DOE have been unable to come to terms on revisions to their loan agreement in time to avoid this,” Brian Selander, a spokesman for Delaware Gov. Jack Markell reportedly said. “We do remain hopeful they will double their efforts to get people back to work at the Boxwood facility as soon as possible.”

The Wilmington plant is supposed to be where production of the Project Nina trio of extended-range electric vehicles starts later this year with sales beginning in 2013. These cars, to be priced in the $40-50,000-plus range, are projected to be made in much higher volume in coming years, and could provide domestic competition against the Chevy Volt and future variants, if all goes according to plan.

And to be sure, Fisker is far from saying it is running out of money as some media outlets have implied. Other financing options can be acted on, Fisker said, if a renegotiation cannot be reached, including perhaps tapping into private equity funds. To date, Ormisher said Fisker has garnered over $850 million, and most recently secured around $260 million toward this total.

The company has been successful in garnering private support, and at the same time admits it continually has its proverbial hat out as it attempts to become a full-fledged U.S. advanced-tech automaker in these times of economic uncertainty, litigiousness and government regulations.

It could however seem a bit ironic that some in the mainstream media jumped on Fisker with a faux expose delivered with the sober tones of a breaking investigative piece. The allegations were that Fisker shamelessly took $529 million then built the Karma in Finland as if it was a hoodwink against American taxpayers.

Actually, Fisker had long since planned this, had fully divulged it to the government, and paid for Finnish Karma production with separate funds.

Of federal dollars, Ormisher said $170 million went toward domestic engineering and development costs. He previously said that Fisker first approached domestic automakers to rent manufacturing capacity, but those attempts all fell through.

Even so, $336 million in federal funds are now on hold for other reasons, as the government did have strings attached after all.

DOE loans and guarantees have reportedly been receiving increased scrutiny since solar panel maker Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in September after taking a $535 million federal loan in 2009.

And Fisker has given pause to some observers. A few months ago, it said it might deliver 3,000 Karmas by year-end, but delays turned this into less than 300 before a minor recall. Last month, Fisker decreased its 2012 sales projection to about 10,000 Karmas from an original 15,000.

Karma in profile. So far, Fisker has successfully kept photos of its Ninas out of the public eye.

The Karma’s price has also increased by as much as 20 percent since introduction. Unplanned-for increases aside, the Karma is intended as a high-profile splash prior to launch of more affordable Nina variants.

As for the layoffs, they have not affected Karma production. These are still emerging from the Valmet plant in Finland onto boats to Fisker’s worldwide customers, with Europe and the U.S being the largest markets.

“Fisker Automotive’s product strategy is to first and foremost establish strong Karma sales worldwide in 2012 and generate a strong business,” said the company in a statement, “and then to plan for the introduction of Nina at Delaware Assembly with the help of a loan from the DOE or other sources.”

According to Ormisher, Fisker still has around 600 employees in Anaheim, and the DOE snafu is not a major concern.

“This is a bump in the road,” Ormisher said while acknowledging that launching a new car company is tough, and missing a goal here or there is to be expected.

And one way or the other, he said, Project Nina is going to happen and the company is nowhere close to going out of business.

The post Fisker's Federal Loans Frozen, Layoffs Follow appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Fisker Automotive has again halted sales of its plug-in Karma and recalled those out on the road in order to fix a software glitch that has caused random check-engine lights and erratic navigation and entertainment system issues. This marks the second time in two months that Fisker has recalled the Karma for a potential defect. The previous recall involved fixing a battery-pack related issue that could have potentially led to electrical shorts.

Founder Henrik Fisker, has promised that he will personally contact each Karma owner to apologize for the glitch and any inconvenience that it has caused.

The software update reportedly comes after a couple of Karma owners reported a series of electronic issues, with at least one Karma owner filing a formal complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher confirmed that sales of the Karma have been halted temporarily while the automaker updates the vehicle’s software. “It’s a fairly normal practice,” Ormisher stated. “If you have an issue with supplied software, you put a stop on the sale until it’s sorted.”

As for Henrik Fisker personally contacting Karma owners, Ormisher stated “Fisker is going to make sure the customers are happy and they can communicate with him.”

Ormisher also said that Fisker remains on track to meet the late-2012 production target for its next offering, Project Nina, which will be manufactured at a revamped former General Motors facility in Delaware. Early sales of Project Nina are scheduled to begin by mid-2013.

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