Fisker Stops Production Until A123 Sale Is Closed

Fisker announced it will not build a single car until the sale of A123, its battery supplier, concludes a court-managed sale.

The hybrid-sports car automaker has not built a single car in 6 months and said it still won’t manufacture any until the sale of A123, its battery supplier, concludes a court-managed sale. Although the Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved the sales of A123 to Chinese Wanxiang Group for $256.6 million, the deal still has to be approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

“We plan to wait until Wanxiang takes full control of A123, then we will get in contact with them to negotiate a contract,” Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher told Reuters. “Once a deal is reached with A123 we can resume Karma production.”

The automaker said it has enough supply of cars and that it is not looking for another battery supplier. Both A123 and Fisker received funding from the US government to support green-technology development, but the $100,000-plus Karma hybrid sports car is manufactured by contractor Valmet in Uusikaupunki, Finland.

The delay of the Atlantic and the break in Karma production, has forced Fisker to reduce its workforce to around 300. The automaker recently announced it has hired bank Evercore Partners to find strategic investors and partners, but denied rumors regarding the sale of the company.