Fisker initially attracted the attention of a number of high-profile buyers, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
The final chapter on Fisker Automotive closed last week when the sale of the Delaware plant the defunct electric vehicle maker bought to make its second-generation vehicle was sold for $18 million.
The plant was sold for the same amount it was purchase by WX Delaware Real Estate Holding Co., which is a subsidiary of Wanxiang America, Inc., according to USA Today.
Wanxiang America, a unit of China’s largest auto parts supplier, won an auction for Fisker in bankruptcy court last month for $149.2 million. It outbid another Chinese company, Hybrid Tech Holdings L.L.C., for the assets. Hybrid bought the Fisker’s loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, hoping to leverage that ownership into getting the entire company.
The Fisker Atlantic was intended to take the maker into a more mainstream market. It was supposed to be built at the Delaware plant that was sold Friday.
The company originally expected its assets to go to Hybrid Tech for a much more modest $25 million after filing for bankruptcy last November. Creditors had objected to what they saw as a sweetheart deal and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross agreed to let other interested parties bid for Fisker’s remains.
The deal is particularly sweet for Wanxiang since it already owns the remains of the company that had supplied batteries to Fisker’s plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle, the Karma. After purchasing the bankrupt A123 last year, the Chinese company renamed it B456.
Fisker Automotive was found in Anaheim, Calif. in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a Danish designer best known for penning striking luxury models such as the Aston Martin DB9. The design of the Karma was enough to cause a stir and several celebrities, Leonardo DiCaprio being the biggest, were seen driving the cars.
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The company quickly raised more than $1 billion in private equity and was also approved for a $529 million federal loan from a program designed to spur the development of alternative-power vehicles.
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But after missing some key production targets, the Department of Energy froze that loan, Fisker only able to tap about $192 million. Things got worse when production of the Karma got off to a rocky start.
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The maker also faced a series of recalls and the loss of some plug-in hybrids during Hurricane Sandy. It was forced to halt development of a second, smaller model, and put on hold plans to re-open the GM plant in Delaware that was to produce the less-expensive Fisker Atlantic.