Fisker Going To Auction In October

It’s been almost a year since a Fisker Karma rolled off of the Finnish production line, and in that year the hybrid automaker’s fortunes have plummeted faster than a canary with concrete shoes. In a bid to get back the some $168 million Fisker still owes the Feds, the rights to the Fisker name and technology will be put up for bid this October. Is Fisker’s fate sealed?

Despite having been valued at more than a billion dollars at one point, the only parties interested in buying the failed automaker have only bid around $25 million. Turns out Fisker didn’t actually own much of the technology being put into their cars, and was in fact losing some $35,000 on every Karma it sold. Around 2,450 Fisker Karmas were built, though many of those remain unsold as residual values have plummeted in recent months.

So far the only publicly interested companies are Germany’s Fritz Nol, which wants to resume Karma production, and VL Automotive, the brainchild of Bob Lutz that sees the Karma packing a supercharged V8 instead of a hybrid drivetrain. Several Chinese companies have also expressed interest, but the opportunity to buy Fisker’s debt at a significant bargain could help the government recover more of the $168 million it’s owed.

Then again, the government could come away with almost nothing, as was the case with CNG taxi-maker VPG. The government recovered just $8 million of the $50 million VPG borrowed, and stands to lose much more on the Fisker loan. Despite this, the ATVM green loan program is kicking back into gear, and the program as arguably been more successful than not in terms of picking winners and losers.

But tell that to Fisker investors.

 Source: The Truth About Cars