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

[DainBramaged]

I cannot tell you how fucking pissed of I am about this, fucking scumfucks


With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.

Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department's $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland.

"There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle," the car company's founder and namesake told ABC News. "They don't exist here."

Henrik Fisker said the U.S. money 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.


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/car-company-us-loan-builds-cars-finland/story?id=14770875

[Romulox]

1. Is this the same company that Al Gore has a stake in? I think it is!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125383160812639013.html

[emilyg]

10. Yes.

[Romulox]

11. "Free trade" for me and thee. FAT GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS for Mr. Gore.

Similar to his take on private jets, I recon. :shrug:

[elleng]

2. NOT a LOAN, its a loan guarantee. Misleading.

Ever have a co-signer on a loan?

[IndyPragmatist]

3. Loan guarantees are much worse

If they pay back the loan, the bank gets all the interest. If they fail, the bank loses nothing and the taxpayer foots the bill.

Sounds like a great deal for the USA. :sarcasm:

[Donnachaidh]

9. yeah, so we guarantee a loan for electric cars most middle class Americans cannot afford

and -IF- they make a profit they'll consider making cheaper version in the States sometime next year or later.

uh huh.

This is yet MORE elitist welfare. WTF should we be guaranteeing loans for cars that cost close to 100k?

I'd love to know who were the brainiacs involved with this scheme. Finland should be guaranteeing loans for their wealthy elites -- not us.

[FarCenter]

18. It's definitely a car for the 1%

But Will It Catch On?
Surprisingly enough, the 2012 Fisker Karma is in an admirable state of readiness just 37 months out from its concept debut. There are key NVH issues to deal with, but everything else is market-ready. "Most of our other-brand shoppers," says Fisker, "are coming from Mercedes. They really enjoy the feeling in Stealth mode around town especially."

There is clearly a niche of wealthy early adopters out there who want this car, given the 3,000-plus pre-orders for the Karma. We can see people cross-shopping the Fisker with a $95,000 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid, or the base Panamera at $74,400 and 4S at $94,700.

Then again Henrik Fisker says, "Many of these customers will have these other cars already in their garage and simply wish to add something unique and at the leading edge of green innovation." He could be right, but if Fisker doesn't muzzle that exhaust note, those customers will surely wonder if being that far ahead of the curve is worth it.

From http://www.insideline.com/fisker/karma/2012/2012-fisker-karma-first-drive.html

[Islandlife]

4. Rolling the dice

Another ill advised gamble using tax payers money. The US Goverment has more guts than brains.

[Fumesucker]

5. Here's one big reason Finland got the contract..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Finland

Publicly funded universal health care.

Companies in Finland don't have to fuck with that gigantic white elephant of a health care "system" we have in the USA.

[NNN0LHI]

6. They spent the money on marketing, engineering, and design work done in the United States

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110210002

ABC Uncovers Scandal: Electric-Car Companies Using Federal Money To Create American Jobs

October 21, 2011 1:03 am ET by Todd Gregory

ABC News has published a lengthy article on its website that misleadingly suggests taxpayers are being ripped off because a car company that got a federal loan guarantee is assembling its vehicles in Finland. The story is headlined "Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland."

In fact, the article reports that the company, Fisker Automotive, has created 100 auto-plant jobs in Delaware in addition to 500 manufacturing jobs in Finland. Fisker's founder also told ABC that his company has spent the federal money it has received on marketing, engineering, and design work done in the United States, not on the Finnish jobs.

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

There are way more important things to be worried about than this misleading story from ABC.

[gratuitous]

7. Facts! Pssshh - as if

Look, you start dealing in facts instead of incendiary demagoguery, you're going to wind up with informed discussion, and nobody in the popular media wants that! So much more profitable to gin up a fake controversy and then cover the resulting fireworks. Later, you can tut-tut everyone for getting so out of control from the fire you started.

And then do it all again.

On a slightly more serious note, thanks for posting the link and explanation for what ABC was really trying to do with this little stinkbomb of a story, and saving me the trouble of doing it myself.

[Romulox]

8. So. The US taxpayer money can only be spent on DISTRIBUTION and ADVERTISING for job-killing imports

That makes it all better then. :eyes:

[DainBramaged]

13. (sigh)

I don't care, more jobs lost while WE pay for those jobs in Finland. and we got 50 high-end jobs here.........


And I can't afford the prescriptions I need.

[Fumesucker]

21. Marketing, engineering and design workers tend not to be union..

Or at least they don't tend to be union as much as manufacturing workers.

And I know engineers at least lean heavily to the right as a profession, not all of them but a big percentage are right wingers.


Notice which end of the economic spectrum got the US jobs..

[FarCenter]

12. Who in the US could they contract to build about 7000 / year of a unique model?

This is about 1/5 of the Corvette's production rate.

Valmet builds Porsche already in the factory, so they would already have the capital investment and workforce skills for high-quality, small run production.

[DainBramaged]

14. Here we go, excuses to put down American labor......

[Romulox]

15. Apparently without the US taxpayer, they can't build this thing ANYWHERE.

:hi:

[FarCenter]

16. 2012 Fisker Karma First Drive

The Fisker Karma grabbed the "Eco" label early and ran with it. It's a big reason why the company was able to attract a substantial amount of private investment, not to mention a cool $529 million from the Department of Energy. Much of the latter was earmarked to fund Fisker's purchase of GM's former Delaware plant that built the Kappa-architecture roadsters and will, by the end of 2011, be building units of the lower-priced Fisker Nina.

Every single supplier and associate Fisker Automotive deals with is, in one way or many, a green-obsessed company. These include the free-range sustainable Scottish leathers used in the EcoSport to the wood trims sourced from existing sunken and fallen Michigan timber to the optional metal-flake metallic paints that get their sparkle from recycled material

More importantly, Fisker is touting the Karma as the first pure-electric luxury car. It's powered by twin 150-kW electric motors and a lithium-ion battery pack. As with the Chevrolet Volt, there's a GM-built four-cylinder engine onboard to keep the Karma on the road even after the initial battery charge is done. Fisker is promising a 50-mile EV range and a 300-mile range extended capability.

http://www.insideline.com/fisker/karma/2012/2012-fisker-karma-first-drive.html

---

But!

---

Fisker: Karma to Meet 2011 Sales Target, Nina Production Delayed to Mid-2013

As for the second model of the carmaker, the Project Nina smaller hybrid sedan, its lauch date has been delayed from next year to mid-2013, despite the fact that Fisker has secured a dela with BMW which will see the Germans supply their new 2.0-liter forced induction TwinPower engine for the car.

The Karma is built in Finland by Valmet, and the Nina will be brought to life in Dellaware, USA, with the company announcing that the latter will be a volume product, with a production target of 100,000 units per year.

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/fisker-karma-to-meet-2011-sales-target-nina-production-delayed-to-mid-2013-39751.html

---

So with the delay, this may or may not turn out well! If they succeed, they'll be the only auto assembly plant on the East Coast besides BMW in South Carolina.

[Romulox]

17. They could also easily be next Solyndra. nt

[FarCenter]

19. Yeah, and there is probably a reason that they are in Delaware...

Fisker Hiring At Repurposed Delaware Auto Plant
http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/06/fisker-hiring-at-repurposed-delaware-auto-plant.html

Fisker Delaware Plant To Be A Union Shop
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/10/fisker-delaware-plant-to-be-a-union-shop/

But VPs have always had the perogative of bringing home a little bacon -- e.g. Houston's NASA Manned Space Center.

[Romulox]

20. The whole thing stinks of corruption and influence. Both Gore and Biden. nt

[spin]

23. posted by mistake (n/t)

[GSLevel9]

22. lol... nt

[spin]

24. It seems to me that in order to get any money or guarantees from our government ...

a company should have to agree to locate inside the United States and provide jobs for Americans.