New Fisker owners eye Delaware plant in production plans

Will Wanxiang America Corporation use a shuttered Delaware auto plant to build Fisker cars?

Officials from Wanxiang, the new owners of luxury car maker Fisker Automotive, have not released details discolsing where production of the Karma or other models will take place.

The Karma, Fisker’s luxury hybrid car, was originally built in Finland by Fisker, but the company planned to begin producing vehicles in the United State’s prior to its bankruptcy.

In 2009, Fisker founder Henrik Fisker stood alongside Vice President Joe Biden to announce that the company would build the Atlantic, a sedan, in Delaware. The company worked with the state to secure the shuttered General Motors plant on Boxwood Road in Newport.

In Dec. 2013, Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after months of speculation that the company was in financial distress. Fisker blamed the bankruptcy on a number of issues, including supply chain disruptions, design delays and the inability to access additional or incremental liquidity.

Fisker also claimed sales were adversely impacted due to reports of their cars catching on fire as a result of faulty batteries.

In the bankruptcy deal, Wanxiang decided to keep the Boxwood Road plant. The 3.5 million square foot building is a former General Motors plant and was acquired by Fisker in 2009 to be the company’s major North American manufacturing hub.

While Wanxiang revamped Fisker Automotive’s website as it prepares to restart vehicle production, it is keeping details about potential production facilities close to its vest. According to the website, the company is “assessing the viability of utilizing [the Boxwood Road plant] as it was originally intended.”