Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland

[JTsyo]

Henrik Fisker said the U.S. money so far has been spent on engineering and design work that stayed in the U.S., not on the 500 manufacturing jobs that went to a rural Finnish firm, Valmet Automotive.

Fisker Automotive, backed by a powerhouse venture capital firm whose partners include former Vice President Al Gore, predicts it will eventually be churning out tens of thousands of electric sports sedans at the shuttered GM factory it bought in Delaware.

Henrik Fisker, the renowned auto designer who founded the car company that carries his name, said his company holds tremendous promise and has accumulated $600 million in private financing.

The article does mention $500million+ that was lend to another company that went bankrupt and was raided by the FBI. The article points out that there needs to be more oversight on how DOE gives out these funds.

 

[GeezerMan]

Did any of you read the article? They have bought a plant in Delaware that they plan for future use. The Finland is a short term solution.

While we're on it, can you name one contract automotive facility in the US that is up to the standards of Valmat Automotive...the same company that currently puts together the Porsche Cayman/Boxster for Porsche?

This plan has been in place for a while and was well known. They have not been wavering in their desire to bring production to Delaware, it is just a matter of time/funding.

I'm not some huge proponent of Fisker. Being an automotive startup is difficult and I wish them the best of luck (as I do to Tesla as well) in their endeavors...especially if it will lead to more jobs here in the states down the road.

OK, I bet dollars to doughnuts that short term solution turns out like a "temporary tax". Oh, they will probably put some warehouse in Delaware to make it look good.

 

[Demo24]

quantity != quality

I understand the Ford F-150 lightning is the best selling truck in America, but when Jeremy Clarckson drove it he called it the worst car he's ever driven.

You are very much wrong on that understanding, the lightening was a limited run model. It also hasn't been made in 7 yrs, and started production 12yrs ago. Clarkson, while entertaining, is hardly the be all end all in determining how good a vehicle is. You are a fool if you think American made cars are 'behind the curve'. Some of the best selling vehicles in Europe are from American owned companies.

And let's see how well your Swedish makers are doing:

Saab - effectively bankrupt and haven't made a car terribly review happy in like 20 years

Volvo - sold off to the chinese, still unable to properly compete with the other luxury makers but does well enough to hang around

Koenigsegg - to small to count

Scania - owned largely by Volkswagen.

--

As for the article:
"Fisker said he apprised the Department of Energy of his decision to assemble the high-priced Karma in Finland after he could not find an American facility that could handle the work. They signed off, he said, so long as he did not spend the federal loan money in Finland -- something he says the company has taken care to avoid."

Far as I can tell, this article isn't very well organized or detailed, is that plans are in the future to build them at the Wilmington plant in Delaware. Which I guess is just not outfitted yet for such production.

 

[Genx87]

Oh look Al Gore connected to another company recieving govt backed loans.

 

[xj0hnx]

Did any of you read the article? They have bought a plant in Delaware that they plan for future use. The Finland is a short term solution.

Fisker Automotive, backed by a powerhouse venture capital firm whose partners include former Vice President Al Gore, predicts it will eventually be churning out tens of thousands of electric sports sedans at the shuttered GM factory it bought in Delaware.

Eventually, it might, while I like to be optimistic, I don't see an almost 100K electric car going gang busters here.

Oh look Al Gore connected to another company recieving govt backed loans.

Yip, saw that, couldn't be anything going on when the MMGW shyster is involved in some ridiculously expensive, US government financed foreign auto venture.

 

[woolfe9999]

Eventually, it might, while I like to be optimistic, I don't see an almost 100K electric car going gang busters here.

Both companies described in the article have started with a high priced, low quantity model, and both are transitioning to lower priced, higher quantity models. I think the high priced models are proof of concept and meant to build goodwill and name recognition before the roll out of the mainstream line. Kind of like introducing your flagship $500 video card that only sells to the cost is no object crowd first, then releasing your mainstream and low cost lineup.

Still, the article makes the point that it will be a serious challenge for these companies to ramp up to high production. Time will tell.

- wolf

 

[Doppel]

Eventually, it might, while I like to be optimistic, I don't see an almost 100K electric car going gang busters here.

No damn chance in hell.

 

[Attic]

Both companies described in the article have started with a high priced, low quantity model, and both are transitioning to lower priced, higher quantity models. I think the high priced models are proof of concept and meant to build goodwill and name recognition before the roll out of the mainstream line. Kind of like introducing your flagship $500 video card that only sells to the cost is no object crowd first, then releasing your mainstream and low cost lineup.

Still, the article makes the point that it will be a serious challenge for these companies to ramp up to high production. Time will tell.

- wolf

It's an interesting route into the market, I'm hopeful these companies are up to the challenge, though I have serious doubts either of them will be successful.

For new manufacturing process, 40nm, 32nm, 20nm?, AMD has taken the route of releasing the mainstream card at an affordable price first to work out any kinks in manufacturing and then releasing the high priced stuff later. For new model lineups I believe the 6870 came before the 6970, and we will soon find out how they roll out the 7000 series.

 

[Fern]

Good. Just as long as they're allowed to bring profits back the US....oh wait, an unfavorable tax climate prevents that

"Profit"? What profit?

--------------

Welp, looks like another billion down the toilet.

Fern

 

[Throckmorton]

The Fisker is not a great vehicle. It's heavy, the electric range is short, and the gas mileage in normal hybrid mode is mediocre.

http://jalopnik.com/5851735/how-fisker-got-500-million-in-government-loans-for-a-fuel-economy-flop

 

[Attic]

Given the current trend of subsidizing failure, if these cars are no good and expensive the federal government can always force them onto the market with high federal credits for purchasers.....

fun fun fun

 

[Doppel]

$500M doesn't seem like a lot of money to me anymore, but yeah that thing seems like a real pile of sh*t if we're being honest. If the Tesla S really delivers what Tesla continues to claim it will, it will make all people who buy the Karma look quite stupid in comparison.

 

[Nebor]

You are very much wrong on that understanding, the lightening was a limited run model. It also hasn't been made in 7 yrs, and started production 12yrs ago. Clarkson, while entertaining, is hardly the be all end all in determining how good a vehicle is. You are a fool if you think American made cars are 'behind the curve'. Some of the best selling vehicles in Europe are from American owned companies.

And let's see how well your Swedish makers are doing:

Saab - effectively bankrupt and haven't made a car terribly review happy in like 20 years

Volvo - sold off to the chinese, still unable to properly compete with the other luxury makers but does well enough to hang around

Koenigsegg - to small to count

Scania - owned largely by Volkswagen.

--

As for the article:
"Fisker said he apprised the Department of Energy of his decision to assemble the high-priced Karma in Finland after he could not find an American facility that could handle the work. They signed off, he said, so long as he did not spend the federal loan money in Finland -- something he says the company has taken care to avoid."

Far as I can tell, this article isn't very well organized or detailed, is that plans are in the future to build them at the Wilmington plant in Delaware. Which I guess is just not outfitted yet for such production.

Volvo was the only profitable section of Ford Motorgroup for over a decade. They only sold it in order to stay solvent. Volvo is still a fairly profitable car company, occupying a place in the market between Japanese branded luxury cars and German luxury cars.

And the Koenigsegg has produced the fastest car in the world several times now.

Sweden makes some outstanding cars. But this article concerns America and Finland, so wtf?