The Fisker Karma will be produced in Finland, but the company's next plug-in hybrid is likely to be built in Delaware at a former GM plant.
A shuttered assembly plant that had been producing two General Motors roadsters could seen see new life producing next-generation plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, or PHEVS, for the California-based start-up Fisker Automotive.
Vice President Joe Biden, a former Delaware Senator, is expected to make the formal announcement, on Tuesday, at the old Boxwood Road facility, in Wilmington. The factory, which closed last summer, had been producing the Solstice for Pontiac, which is being closed down, and the Sky for Saturn, the brand which GM now will abandon after a failed attempt to sell it to automotive entrepreneur Roger Penske.
According to sources, and a report by the Associated Press, the Boxwood plant would see new life as the production site for a second product line being developed by Fisker, which is based in Irvine, California, using a $528.7 million federal loan provided by the federal government under a program designed to encourage the production of high-mileage, low-emission automobiles.
Henrik Fisker once worked for a designer at Ford and, previously Aston Martin, where he helped pen luxury sports cars. In 2005, he set up a company of his own with the idea of customizing existing luxury products, such as the BMW 6-Series coupe. But the Danish-born stylist switched directions and began working on a plug-in hybrid concept, called Karma.
The auto industry, as a whole, is pressing into the broad area known as “electrification,” with hybrids, plug-ins, extended-range electric vehicles – such as the Chevrolet Volt E-REV – and pure battery-electrics, like the Nissan Leaf.
Many experts believe that plug-ins and similarly conceived E-REVS will make a big dent in the market because they can be driven around town purely on battery power then switch to internal combustion for longer drives.
Fisker intends to bring its first model, the Karma, to market in 2010. Priced at $87,900, the limited-edition sports car will be produced by Valmet Automotive, a Finnish manufacturer that has provided vehicles to, among others, Porsche.
Fisker’s second product line, reportedly code-named Project Nina, will be aimed at a more mainstream market, and is expected to sell for around $48,000, though it will qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit. Sales, the company projects, could hit 100,000 annually.
The project would not be possible without the more than half-billion dollar federal loan. The government program is also expected to fund a second California start-up, Tesla Motors, which recently launched production of its $108,000 Roadster, a high-performance two-seater. Tesla, which focuses on pure battery-electric vehicles, wants to move more mainstream with its Model S, an electric family sedan that should be in production, according to Chairman Elon Musk, by 2013.