Henrik Fisker Called, He Wants His Company Back

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Henrik Fisker paired up with Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li to get his company back. Fisker is a co-founder of severely troubled Fisker Automotive. Li and Fisker are trying to buy the U.S. government loan to Fisker at a big discount. Henrik Fisker was ousted in March.

Another group, China’s Wanxiang with Bob Lutz as a friendly face, is trying to buy Fisker for $20 million.

Around Fisker Automotive hangs a $171 million loan payable to the DOE. The DOE is currently looking into the legal ramifications of selling the loan, Reuters heard. Last month, the DOE seized $21 million from Fisker’s bank account to apply against the first priority loan. Then, there are payables to suppliers.

Just-Auto recently wrote, and I wholeheartedly agree:

“As any rational person in the industry understands, the odds of any automaking start-up succeeding in the long run are about the equivalent of winning the national lottery: it could, statistically, happen, but in reality, it almost certainly won’t. In fact, you might say that starting a firm to make automobiles in hopes of building the company into a global brand is a task mostly for masochists and the deluded.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • ToxicSludge ToxicSludge on May 24, 2013

    As an American taxpayer I have this to say,'I want my money back...in full'.

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on May 24, 2013

    I do not agree that it is almost impossible to start a new car company and eventually become big player. Just ask Hyundai and Kia (and even Daewoo)how it can be done, or even better - right at this moment we are witnessing how several global auto companies - future market leader are being created in China (while established companies in Europe and US go out of business or become Chinese companies). I can agree that it is very unlikely in US because of hostile environment towards any new or old business big or small. But even in US Tesla may proof that chances are more like 1 to 10 rather than 1 to million. It is possible to start global company from scratch but land of opportunity is China and not USA anymore let alone quagmire called EU.

  • Jimf42 Jimf42 on May 25, 2013

    I want Bob Lutz's v8 version of the Fisker...same great design, with real performance.

    • See 4 previous
    • Luke42 Luke42 on May 27, 2013

      @redav Also, does the this fire-breathing Karma have enough traction to translate 700HP worth of power into forward motion? Or does it just mean you do a lot of burnouts? With that amount of power, AWD and traction control might be needed to make the car work. (On the green end of the vehicle engineering optimization spectrum, this kind of thing really isn't a problem!)

  • NeinNeinNein NeinNeinNein on May 28, 2013

    What I never got, and I know this is a bit off topic, but I thought about it in regards to the idea that a new car company simply wont make it--why doesnt someone come out with a cheap, safe car with decent features and sell it for years. Just keep rolling it out. People want and need cheap transportation. A basic, boxy Germanic looking car with a bit of style and with 4cyl ~30-35 mpg, AC, PS, Cruise---etc. With economies of scale--sell it for like $10K. Maybe use parts from cars already in production or that were in production (or same specs?) I'm far from completely knowledgeable on these things so feel free to shoot down my idea. HAAHAHAHHAHA.

    • Landcrusher Landcrusher on May 28, 2013

      The problem with starting out trying to compete on the low end is that it's incredibly hard to meet the economies of scale and capital advantages of the bigger players. Your version of the Kia Soul will cost more and be from a no name company. OTOH, if you go for high profit, low volume designs, you have less capital requirements and can sell to people with a lower utility for cash who will shell out for something unique or different.

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