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Henrik Fisker seeking Indian joint venture

Henrik Fisker may have backed out of the luxury hybrid automaker that bore his name, but don't dismiss him as down for the count just yet. In his latest initiative, the Dutch automotive designer is looking into starting up a joint venture in India. According to the Economic Times, Fisker was recently on the sub-continent visiting factories and holding meetings with Indian automakers that could see some sort of joint venture announced in the next three to four months, with Henrik himself tipped to join the board of his partnering automaker in an advisory capacity. India is home to such automakers as Tata, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra. It's now been a year since the designer parted company with Fisker Automotive, which was bought by Chinese parts supplier Wangxiang for $150 million. Since then, Fisker's penned designs on an ad-hoc basis, including a high-end Mustang for Galpin and a custom motorcycle for Viking, through his new consultancy HF Design & Technology. Before starting Fisker Automotive, Henrik Fisker designed such notable machinery as the Aston Martin DB9, BMW Z8 and the ill-fated but beautiful Artega GT. He then got into the coachbuilding business, rebodying Mercedes SLs and BMW M6s for discerning and wealthy customers. News Source: Economic TimesImage Credit: Nam Y. Huh/AP Design/Style Green Fisker Henrik Fisker

Fisker tells its staff that four companies are interested in buying it

Fisker is nearing bankruptcy, but there might be a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel it's been traveling in for the past few months. Four companies have shown an interest in buying the troubled brand, according to comments made during a meeting by founder Henrik Fisker. "We still have some time to get other offers on Fisker. We do have four car companies that have signed NDAs," the executive said during what's described as an "all-hands meeting" for staff members held earlier this month. "However, they obviously need time to get some diligence." Business Insider, who reported the comments, adds that Fisker didn't reveal the identity of the four companies. He specified that they're car companies, but that's a vague term that could refer to anything from a small startup with shady backing to a major group that's been around for over a century. Similarly, there's no word on how long it will take for these companies to decide whether to make an offer on Fisker. In spite of its setbacks, including damning reviews of the only model it has managed to bring to production, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) probe, and reports of thousands of canceled orders, Fisker seemingly remains fairly attractive to investors. Nissan briefly considered buying the carmaker earlier in 2024 but the talks ended without a deal, according to an earlier report. Deutsche Bank is helping Fisker look for takeover candidates, and the company has already turned down one offer that wasn't "sufficient," its CEO said. Fisker hasn't commented on the report. Meanwhile, industry trade journal Automotive News (subscription only) reports Henrik Fisker has listed his personal home — an 11,800-square-foot mansion in Hollywood Hills — for sale at $35 million, though you can also rent it for $125,000 per month. The publication notes $35 million is more than Fisker's market cap, which stood at $33.7 million when it was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.  

Why the $142M Fisker sale won't help DOE loan get its $168M back

At the beginning of 2014, it looked like Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC was going to buy the remains of Fisker Automotive for $25 million. Just before that sale was to take place, however, Wanxiang stepped in and an auction was therefore scheduled for the middle of February. After 19 rounds of apparently frantic bidding, Wanxiang drove away the winner with a $149.2-million bid. Despite the massive dollar run-up, the Department of Energy will not be recouping any extra money from its failed loan to Fisker in the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. Way back in 2010, the DOE made Fisker a loan commitment of $528 million but only ever gave the automaker $192 million before problems were identified and the ATVMP spigot was turned off. The DOE later said it "recouped more than $28 million from the company's accounts," which left $168 million unaccounted for. The DOE thus announced it would hold an auction for the remainder of Fisker's loan obligation, which was decidedly not all of the Fisker remains. That loan sale auction took place in December and was won by Hybrid Tech Holdings for $25 million, which means that the final cost to the DOE was $143 million. The important thing to realize is that the $25 million in cash that made up Hybrid's original bid for the rest of the Fisker assets in the February auction in a Delaware bankruptcy court were the apples to the oranges of the $25 million used to buy the loan obligation in December. Since the DOE did not control - and never wanted to control - the Fisker assets, the DOE didn't get to recoup any more of the $143 million that Fisker owed on the loan despite the higher-than-expected ending price. Clear as mud, right?