Fisker May Be Saved – By Henrik Fisker!

May 28th, 2013 by Important Media Cross-Post

This post first appeared on Gas2
by Jo Borras

In a move worthy of a few paragraphs in ~~one of~~ the good Ayn Rand novels, Henrik Fisker is working with an investor group led by multi-billionaire (and early Fisker investor) Richard Li in hopes of buying out Fisker’s DOE loans and saving the company.

When Henrik Fisker walked away from the Fisker brand and his longtime partner, Bernie Koehler, over budget concerns and disagreements about the future direction of the company that bore his name, many thought Henrik had left the ugly business of righting Fisker to someone else. It turns out, we might have underestimated the lad: Henrik is trying to buy his company back!

Henrik Fisker’s bid, at this point, is competing with Bob Lutz’ B456-funded bid to buy Fisker, which we covered in some detail a few days ago. In either case, however, the winning group must repay Fisker’s $171 million DOE loan to the government’s satisfaction – which could sway the deal towards the well-connected Bob Lutz, who became something of a media darling in his handling of a post-bankruptcy GM. At the moment, the DOE is examining the legal ramifications of selling the loan, a person familiar with the DOE’s thinking said Thursday. It’s worth noting, as well, that such a step would not resolve any outstanding debt owed to Fisker’s suppliers, and that Lutz’ backers count themselves in that number.

Whoever ends up with Fisker, the fledgling carmaker faces a steep challenge to regain credibility after a string of financial and quality-control setbacks. Also: God seems to hate Fisker (just sayin’).

Source: Reuters, via Autoguide.

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Tags: A123, ayn rand, b456, Bob Lutz, business, DOE, Fisker, Henrik Fisker, Karma, loan, loans, news

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mds

Fisker came to the market with a PHEV (EREV type) that was not as good as the GM Volt, but more expensive. A more expensive product that is not as good as the competition? This is a fail in economics 101. They didn’t do anyone any favors. I would have terminated the effort earlier.
Henrik Fisker will need to do better than this. Just coming back is not enough.
James Wimberley

“In a move worthy of a few paragraphs in one of the good Ayn Rand novels …”
Some people, not me, are attracted to the silly ideas advertised in her books. But you cannot seriously claim she wrote any good novel.
- Bob_Wallace
  
  Rand wrote mediocre fiction which gets young boys all tingly-legged.
  
  Unfortunately, some don’t make it past the belief that what she wrote has some application to the real world.
J_JamesM

…Hooray. Fisker is saved.

Sorry, I just can’t seem to get too enthusiastic about Fisker. They sell a single, very expensive, (and in my opinion) very ugly car, and that’s about it. They say they have a cheaper model in the works, but they seem to be much less capable of achieving that goal than Tesla currently is.

Their Eco-sustainability model is laudable. I just wish they were more competent at executing it.