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The billionaire's passion behind Wanxiang's Fisker bid

If it weren't for billionaire Lu Guanqiu, founder of Chinese auto parts giant Wanxiang Group, the Fisker Automotive bankruptcy bailout deal might have closed earlier this month. Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, along with Li's affiliate company Hybrid Tech Holdings, assumed their offer was going to be accepted. Instead, the US bankruptcy court judge called for an open auction bid for Fisker's assets on February 12. Lu made a few convincing points to the judge. There's another interesting part of the story that Lu didn't share it with the judge. If the Fisker deal doesn't work out, Lu and Wanxiang might increase their working relationship with Tesla Motors. Lu told US bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross that Wanxiang, which now owns Fisker's supplier of lithium batteries, A123 Systems, is better placed than Hybrid Tech Holdings to restart and expand production at Fisker. Better yet, Wanxiang could move production from Finland to the US. That was convincing enough for Gross to schedule the auction. Lu's move toward taking over ownership and restoring Fisker seems to be driven by two motivations: converting his company from a parts maker to an automaker; and to grow the yet-to-be profitable "new energy " business such as lithium battery and electric vehicle makers. For Lu, it's not so much about believing in Fisker – it's more about playing a leading role in electric vehicles – and that could come through deepening its connection to Tesla Motors. "Of course we want to pocket Fisker. But we will bid rationally," he said to Reuters. "Whatever the result, nothing can stop us from making electric cars." Check out more about Lu in this Reuters piece, including how he and six other farmers pooled together $500 in 1969 to start what would become Wanxiang. Featured Gallery Fisker Karma at Laguna Seca News Source: Reuters Government/Legal Green Fisker Tesla Electric wanxiang

The Force will be strong with Fisker in Detroit

Henrik Fisker is going to the Detroit Auto Show to show off two new cars, one of them a two-seat American "super sports car" called The Force 1. We know The Force 1 will have a Fisker-designed carbon fiber body laid over a front-engined American production car, is said to be a daily driver with the precision of a track car and the comfort of a luxury sports car, is priced near $300,000, and no more than 50 units will be produced starting next year. However, Fisker isn't divulging much more than that, including what the donor car is.The sketch shows off a number of Fisker cues like a long nose and short tail, wide body and even wider wheel arches, and large wheels - The Force 1 gets 21-inchers. "Laser blade" taillights will warn those behind, we imagine the sound of an engine said to have among the world's highest naturally aspirated outputs will give everyone else the signal to stay back. Power goes to the rear wheels only, with either a six-speed manual or an automatic with paddle shifters. The coupe is fitted with an active suspension developed by an American race car driver, Fisker saying that the unnamed driver uses the suspension on his race car.Our first guess for a two-seat donor car with an engine sturdy enough for such a tune would have been a Chevrolet Corvette, but the six-speed manual would mean Fisker scrapped the Corvette's standard seven-speed manual. The press conference revealing all secrets will happen on January 12. The release below can tide you over until then.Related Video: HENRIK FISKER DEBUTS NEW AMERICAN SUPER CAR "THE FORCE 1"AT THE 2016 NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW ON JANUARY 12December 10, 2015 - Henrik Fisker, the founder of Henrick Fisker Design, will be taking the wraps off a new sports car, The Force 1, at a press conference at the 2016 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) on the main show floor on January 12, at 10:05 a.m.This high-performance automobile is an American take on a super sports car featuring powerful, dramatic sculptural exterior styling, Ultra Thin Ventilated (UTV) laser blade tail lamps and a luxurious contemporary interior for two people. The body on the limited edition auto is all carbon fiber sitting on 21" wheels with high performance Pirelli P Zero tires, controlled by a unique new active suspension.Priced just under $300,000, The Force 1 is the only American sports car in this price category.

Fisker lost track of millions of dollars in customer payments for months

Fisker temporarily lost track of millions of dollars in customer payments as it scaled up deliveries, leading to an internal audit that started in December and took months to complete, TechCrunch has learned. The EV startup was ultimately able to track down a majority of those payments or request new ones from customers whose payment methods had expired. But the disarray, which was described to TechCrunch by three people familiar with the internal payment crisis, took employees and resources away from Fisker’s sales team at a time when the company was attempting to save itself by restructuring its business model. Fisker struggled to keep tabs on these transactions, which included down payments and in some cases, the full price of the vehicles, because of lax internal procedures for keeping track of them, according to the people. In a few cases, it delivered vehicles without collecting any form of payment at all, they said. “Checks were not cashed in a timely manner or just lost altogether,” one of the people told TechCrunch. “We were often scrambling to find checks, credit card receipts and any wired funds a few months after a vehicle was sold.” Alongside the internal audit, outside auditor PwC was asking Fisker for more documentation about its vehicle sales as part of the process of putting together the company's annual financial report, according to two of the people. Fisker was often unable to provide satisfactory documentation, leading to more requests from PwC. “Paperwork being collected wasnÂ’t always being collected in full, or sent to the same places,” another one of the people said. These sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press about internal matters. This internal confusion put the company in a position where it couldnÂ’t accurately say how much revenue it had generated, according to the people, who noted it is one of the reasons Fisker has yet to file its annual financial report for 2023. Tracking down the payments may wind up offering little solace to the startup, which is on the brink of bankruptcy. Fisker has paused production of its only vehicle, the Ocean SUV, after running into trouble meeting internal sales goals and struggling to support customers dealing with a number of quality problems. It has alerted investors that it may not be able to continue operations without a fresh infusion of cash.