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Fisker asset sale may not include name, logo

Always read the fine print before you sign the contract. That platitude is taking on new life as word comes that the winning bidder for bankrupt plug-in hybrid manufacturer Fisker may not actually earn the rights to use the company's name and logo. According to Delaware Online, that's because Fisker Automotive doesn't actually own either – they're the property of a different company called Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, and they have been used under license by the carmaker since 2008. This interesting bifurcation of assets brings to mind a previous bit of auto history - Rolls-Royce and Vickers. As it turns out, Fisker Coachbuild not only designs cars and components, it also has the merchandising rights to the Fisker name and logo for things like apparel and branded tchotchkes. How did this happen? According to the report, Coachbuild is a Fisker stockholder, and in 2008, a contract was signed by Bernhard Koehler (co-founder of Fisker and then-chief operating officer of Coachbuild) and designer and company namesake Henrik Fisker. Koehler and Fisker are actually in the logo, in a fashion, since it is supposed to represent the two men (the vertical lines) looking at the sunset (the red half circle) over the ocean (blue). Fisker Coachbuild attorneys have now put the bankruptcy court on official notice about their ownership of these key assets, and it's unclear if this news will affect the actions of leading bidders Wanxiang America, Inc. and Hybrid Tech Holdings. Coachbuild does sound somewhat conciliatory, saying "...it is likely that Coachbuild will consent to the assignment of the rights provided for under the Trademark Agreement as part of the proposed sale" while simultaneously "reserving its rights under applicable law to bar the assumption and assignment of Trademark Agreement without its prior written consent." This interesting bifurcation of assets brings to mind a previous bit of auto history. Back in 1998, British industrial conglomerate Vickers executed a now-legendary bit of wheeling-and-dealing that saw it sell the physical assets of luxury automaker Rolls-Royce to the Volkswagen Group. We say 'legendary' because it only sold the physical assets to VW – not the trademarks associated with them. Those trademarks included the Rolls-Royce name, famed double-R iconography and other assets – assets Vickers subsequently sold to BMW.

Fisker announces plans to build an electric pop-up Popemobile

Resurrected EV builder Fisker announced early Friday that it plans to build an electric Popemobile for Pope Francis based on its forthcoming Ocean EV. Fisker says it will deliver what it is calling the first all-electric papal transport vehicle next year ahead of starting series production of the Ocean. Fisker says company representatives pitched the idea to the Holy See in a private audience on Thursday. The announcement comes just days after a Biden administration official indicated that electrification of the presidential limousine dubbed "The Beast" is under consideration.  The presentation to His Holiness included the design sketch and renderings above. They're a bit on the quick-and-dirty side, but check out photoshopped Pope Francis in his little pop-up (Pope-up?) roof bubble thingy. D'aww.  "I got inspired reading that Pope Francis is very considerate about the environment and the impact of climate change for future generations," Henrik Fisker said in the announcement. "The interior of the Fisker Ocean papal transport will contain a variety of sustainable materials, including carpets made from recycled plastic bottles from the ocean." For now, this is a one-and-done project; Fisker did not announce plans to supply any additional EVs to the papal fleet. Hey, beats a Dacia Duster, right? 

New Fisker claims 50-50 chance it will build cars in Delaware

As soon as the bankrupt Fisker Automotive started crawling back from the dead, rumors that the new owners would restart production of the Karma plug-in hybrid crawled as well. We've heard that the car would be built in the old General Motors plant the company owns in Delaware, that it would happen in Michigan or that Valmet would get going again in Finland. Nothing official has yet been announced, but Delaware Online is now saying that it's even money that Delaware to play a role in Fisker's physical rebirth. "It definitely makes economic sense to consider [the Delaware] facility" – Roger Brown Roger Brown is the interim president of Fisker Automotive and recently said that there is a "50-50" chance that the Newport, DE will be where the company rises again. "We inherited this situation, and because the facility is one of the assets we purchased, it has ... good bones, it has a paint shop, and you know, it definitely makes economic sense to consider that facility," he told Delaware Online. Before Fisker's bankruptcy, Delaware offered over $20 million in incentives to get the automaker to build cars there. It never did, and a recent settlement agreement does not give the state much of a return on that money. The bankruptcy proceedings are not yet finished, but Brown made what has to be considered a bold statement. In deciding which locations makes sense to restart production, he said that, "if they provide incentives, obviously that would go into the equation; if they don't, obviously that would go into the equation also." The closest that the new Fisker has come to saying where it will restart building cars is in documents that new owner Wanxiang filed with a federal court earlier this year. That three-part plan included restarting Karma production at Valmet, using partner VL Automotive's manufacturing facility in Michigan and then building the Atlantic somewhere. Brown gave a timeline to Delaware Online - new Karmas by August 2015, start building the Surf shooting brake by March 2016 and then add in the Atlantic by the end of 2017 - which would give Fisker time to tool up the Delaware plant for the Atlantic. Brown also said that building with VL Automotive has now been ruled out.