California-based start-up Fisker Automotive raised the $35 million in private equity it needed to get a loan from the $529 million that the Obama administration had pledged to the Energy Department. The money is part of a $189 million funding round to get its stylish plug-in hybrid electric car off the ground.
Fisker's first model is the Finnish-built Karma (above), a plug-in hybrid that will sell for about $87,900. The Karma is built in Finland by contract automaker Valmet Automotive and shipped to the US. Subsequently Fisker Auto will create 2,500 new jobs in the next five years as it renovates a former Chrysler plant in Delaware, and develops a lower-cost sedan hybrid there. Fisker purchased that plant for $18 million from the Motors Liquidation Co., which was the legal entity disposing of unwanted GM assets in bankruptcy court. Fisker will also employ experienced auto workers who were laid off after the closure of the old plant.
