Henrik Fisker resigns from eponymous hybrid car company

[dnmun]

The founder and executive chairman of hybrid car maker Fisker Automotive has reportedly resigned.

Henrik Fisker told Automotive News in an email that he had resigned because of “several major disagreements” with management on the company’s business strategy.


In December, the company hired investment bankers to search for a partner to keep the company going.

Fisker’s $110,000 high-end vehicles have failed to catch on, and the company halted production last summer. In addition, its battery supplier, A123, went bankrupt, complicating efforts to restart production.

Fisker received $192 million in Energy Department loans as part of the Obama administration’s effort to promote production of electric vehicles, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A half-billion dollar loan from the DOE was put on hold last year, after the company missed new-vehicle development deadlines.

Tony Posawatz, previously the vehicle line director for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, became Fisker CEO in August. He told Automotive News the company is “in the midst of some serious negotiating.”

Last month China’s Zhejiang Geely emerged as the lead bidder for a deal with Fisker. Zhejiang Geely also owns Volvo.

– Tom Bemis

 

[mikebikerad]

The Karma had meager perfromance next to a Model S and only gets ~20mpg in extended range mode! I would get out too.

Thanks for posting!

 

[dnmun]

maybe it is not clear, i doubt if he resigned voluntarily. he obviously is in the way of the plans the debt holders have for the company.

 

[neptronix]

Saw it coming as soon as i saw the specs.
20mpg on gas ( you would pay a gas guzzler tax on it here in the USA if it didn't have a battery ), it chugs electricity too, it's 500lbs heavier than a hummer H2, had poor performance ( 0-60 in 7 seconds? LOL ) and handling, was thrown together by contractors, and built by a car designer, not an engineer.

Then they started catching on fire... :lol:

This is going to be great for Tesla.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

DOE should have gave more funding to Tesla instead of Fisker.. what a waste of taxpayer money.

 

[dnmun]

it was peanuts compared to one day in afghanistan or iraq. our military destruction complex eats $2 billion/day. that is nine zeroes!!! per day. versus 2 zeroes? duh.

 

[wingtip]

http://www.plugincars.com/henrik-fisker-leaves-fisker-automotive-126678.html

Just saw this article and was gonna post. I always had high hopes for Fisker but there was always an aspect of vapor to the ware they were pushing. Initially it seemed they even marketed the car as "electric" and then of course it ended up being built as a hybrid. I have no problem with the a company being the brainchild of a designer. Heck, design is what sells stuff. obviously the engineering must follow suit and the thing has to function well in order for success to happen but aesthetics often rule. Just look at apple.

What struck me about their product was how damn impractical it was. The car was huge on the outside, long and wide, but the inside was absolutely claustrophobic. I'm not kidding here, whenever I sat in the thing at car shows or at a preview they had here in LA I was truly uncomfortable and I'm used to riding around in some tiny cars. I think the primary problem there was that the poor outward visibility combined with this cramped, cocoon-like interior that was quite low to the ground became something of toxic cocktail of sorts. I think Here's a case where, when design trumps function (as in the exterior shape of the car over the interior space...) you could have a serious problem.

I guess Mr. Fisker had some pretty grandiose ideas about what to build but frankly, especially as a hybrid, I found it pretty uninteresting. Maybe in his next iteration of car company (which I'm sure is forthcoming), Henrik will focus on something smaller, pure electric, and more mass market. Especially if he's using federal funding. Frankly I find it a bit offensive that so much public money should be spent to subsidize a company that so clearly was focused on building impractical products for the highly affluent.

 

[aroundqube]

Oh cynical me. I bet Mr Fisker doesn't die bankrupt, like american automotive pioneer Durant did.