By Rob Janicki
The good news for Fisker ....
The maker of the luxury hybrid Karma says it has “at least” $30 million in cash, and $15 million more due after settling a claim this week with its bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems, according to Reuters...
The really, really bad news for taxpayers ....
the company owes $192 million on a $193 million Department of Energy “green” loan. It was supposed to receive $529 million, but the DOE declined to pay the full amount in May 2011 after Fisker fell behind on its targets. Executives who kept their jobs are trying to renegotiate a $10 million loan payment due on April 22...
Now for the life boat for officers of Fisker Automotive ...
Fisker Automotive laid off three quarters of its staff today to avoid bankruptcy while it seeks an angel with big bucks to help it become operational again...
Let's be real. The layoff was intended as a life jacket for the remaining officers of Fisker. There is no chance that Fisker Automotive will survive. The federal government has cut them off and so have a couple of Chinese suitors.
Fisker’s search for a buyer has also gone south. Chinese companies Dongfeng Motor Group and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group both balked at the terms of its loan agreement with the DOE, according to Reuters. The auto maker recently hired restructuring lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in case it can’t find an investor or strategic partner to help keep it afloat...
Fisker Automotive could have hired David Copperfield or any other magician to pull a rabbit out of a hat, which would likely be more productive than hiring a bunch of attorneys to pull a Karma out of its death spiral.
Another government failure. And yet, liberal progressives would have you believe that a command economy directed by government can somehow stimulate consumer demand and grow the economy. Economics 101: Consumer desires determine the demand on producers to provide the products and services that consumers seek. Keynesian economics is the tail of the dog trying to wag the dog. It just doesn't work and never has worked successfully. Telling producers what to produce and consumers what to consume is a disaster from beginning to end. No exception.
Read article in its entirety at the Washington Examiner
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