#ErnestMoniz

United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said the whichever of the two Chinese bidders for the assets of Fisker Automotive wins the court ordered auction on February 12th it will still have to keep Fisker’s manufacturing and research in the U.S. Automotive News reports that Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC and Wanxiang America Corp. are fighting over the remains of Fisker in U.S. bankruptcy court for the remains of Fisker, an Energy Department loan recipient that stopped making its luxury plug-in hybrid cars in 2012.

“I’m not going to pick a winner of the auction,” Moniz said at the Washington Auto Show. “What’s key for us is of course the terms of our loan have to be respected. We have technology transfer limitations first of all. No matter who the winner is we will be looking at both engineering and manufacturing in the U.S. That’s the key for us.”

Speaking at the Washington (D.C.) Auto Show, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Wednesday that part of reviving the dormant Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program may involve making suppliers as well as automakers eligible for the more than $15 billion allocated for the ATVM program that was never loaned out. The program stalled 2011 after the high profile failures of two loan recipients, Fisker Automotive and Vehicle Production Group. Of the other three recipients of ATVM loans, Tesla repaid its loan early and Ford and Nissan continue to pay down their debts on schedule.