Last week, Rueters reported that Wanxiang, a Chinese parts supplier, had won the bankruptcy auction for Fisker Automotive. The bid was valued around $149.2 million. The deal comes to close after a bidding war between Wanxiang and Hybrid LLC — a group who includes Richard Li, a Fisker investor and Hong Kong billionaire. In November, Fisker asked for Hybrid Technology LLC to purchase the bankrupt company for $25 million, but creditors objected the deal in November and brought Wanxiang into the case in December.

Today Delaware, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross approved of the sale to Wanxiang. He stated that the auction “shows that a fair process is a good thing.”
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Fisker is worth around 200 Karmas at retail. “A team including former General Motors Co executive Bob Lutz and China’s largest parts maker is looking to buy Fisker Automotive for $20 million, a fraction of the “green” car company’s estimated worth almost a year and a half ago,” Reuters says. (Read More…)

When former TTAC Editor-in-Chief and now Editor emeritus Edward “Op-Ed” Niedermeyer wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and warned that GM’s center of gravity shifts more and more to China, GM’s  retired multi-role fighter Bob Lutz  reamed Ed via Fortune.  Now, Bob Lutz himself appears to be an accessory in a deal that transfers  U.S.  government-financed  technology to China for pennies on the dollar.  Says Deepa Seetharaman, in-house alternative drivetrain expert at the Reuters Detroit office,  in her in-depth article: (Read More…)

B456 Systems, the lithium-ion battery maker formerly known as A123 Systems, won court approval for its bankruptcy plan. It gives unsecured creditors of the company about 65 cents for each dollar owed, Reuters says. (Read More…)

Reports by Bloomberg suggest that Fisker could sell up to an 85 percent stake to Chinese automaker Dongfeng. The automaker apparently bid $350 million for the beleaguered plug-in car maker, according to sources close to the company.

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U.S. government funded and nonetheless bankrupt battery maker A123 will be Chinese. China’s Wanxiang emerged as the successful bidder in December. All the deal needed  was U.S. government approval. The deal has been approved, says Reuters. (Read More…)

Battery maker A123 was sold to China’s Wanxiang Group, but the company won’t come with more government money. The DOE won’t give A123 Systems Inc. the balance of a $249 million grant, a department official tells Reuters. Wanxiang, in the meantime, let it become known that it did not ask for the grant money, and that it did not anticipate receiving it. (Read More…)

Wanxiang Group, China’s largest maker of auto parts won the auction for A123 Systems, Reuters says. The maker of batteries for electric cars was funded partly with U.S. government money, but went bankrupt nonetheless. (Read More…)

In the bankruptcy auction for EV battery maker A123 that begins today, Reuters is reporting that NEC of Japan and Siemens of Germany are going to join China’s Wangxiang and Wisconsin’s Johnson Controls in bidding for the entire company.

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Fisker put production of its Karma plug-in hybrid on hold. Reason: It is running out of batteries. Bankrupt battery manufacturer A123 Systems has cut its output. (Read More…)

While Johnson Controls and China’s Wanxiang Group have competing bids to acquire the assets of advanced battery maker and Fisker supplier A123, a more serious battle is occurring in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware between the startup automaker and what is arguably its most important vendor. A123 wants the bankruptcy judge to void its contracts including those for supplying batteries to Fisker. That could stop production of Fisker’s only car, the Karma. (Read More…)

Fisker is asking a bankruptcy judge to delay an asset sale related to beleaguered battery maker A123 Systems.

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When we reported that battery maker A123 had filed for bankruptcy, a lot of people thought that Johnson Controls is in control, and that Chinese Wanxiang is out. No and no, writes Reuters star car reporter Norihiko Shirouzu. Wanxiang still wants A123, and Johnson Controls is just one bidder in a Chapter 11 process, says Reuters. (Read More…)

Reuters reports that battery maker A123 Systems is filing to bankruptcy protection in Delaware.

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U.S. Senators long have warned of an exodus of American know-how to China. Last year, Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin complained to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk about another attempt by China ”to illegally gain an unfair advantage over the U.S. automobile industry that will cost our country jobs. The United States must respond strongly to stand up for American businesses and working families.”

A year later, the exodus is in full swing, and it starts to hurt. This time, it pains automakers to see how Chinese companies are getting their hands on taxpayer-funded secrets. (Read More…)