Fisker Looking for Chinese Investment After Not Building Car in Six Months

FIskerFiskerUnited States of America, 2007 > present5 models
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2 videos
is hoping that Chinese investment and selling cars to China will save the company from death. The company sold 2,000 cars in 2012, but not a single Fisker has been built for the past six months because its battery supplier has gone bankrupt. 

The company's major hope lies in investment from the China Grand Automotive Services Company, a dealership group that already distributes Fisker's cars in China. Fisker has been courting the company in hopes of investment. 

It is also in negotiation with a Chinese automotive supplier to produce batteries for its cars. 

"Fisker is in advanced talks with a number of potential strategic partners. We expect some exciting developments in the next few months," said Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher.

China was not the first choice for investment in Fisker. Company leaders went to Europe in 2012 looking for investors but were unable to find any interested parties. 

The company is in dire straits at the moment and will probably not survive the year without investment from somewhere. It had to issue recalls on its cars last year as a result of them catching fire while being parked and 16 cars were destroyed while being stored in New York when Hurricane Sandy hit the coast. Its $529 million federal credit line was frozen after the company had spent $190 million of the money when the U.S Department of Energy decided that Fisker was not healthy enough for the loan. 

The company's sole remaining hope is that it can finish the development on its smaller, cheaper Atlantic sedan that could bring more sales to the company. The AtlanticFisker AtlanticUnited States of America, 2013 > present8 photos
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is supposed to be priced around $55,000, about half the price of the larger KarmaFisker KarmaUnited States of America, 2009 > present2 versions
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. 

Source: Reuters