The Atlantic was supposed to be produced in a former General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) plant in Delaware -- something that was announced by the company and Vice President Biden in 2009. But the Atlantic has never gone into production as Fisker has struggled to replace financing from Department of Energy loans.
More recently, Fisker Automotive's battery supplier, A123 Systems, was forced into bankruptcy and taken over by a Chinese buyer. A123 halted battery production which has forced Fisker, in turn, to halt production of the Karma.
Fisker has also suffered a number of other setbacks, including bad reviews of its automobile and car fires. Recently, a number of Karmas burned at a New Jersey port following flooding due to Hurricane Sandy. The Karma is built in Finland and therefore must be shipped to the US. An insurance company refused to pay for the damage.
On a more optimistic note, the company had recently hired Tony Posowatz as president and chief executive. Posowatz formerly worked at General Motors where he was largely responsible for the creation of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in car. Fisker also recently hired Joel Ewanick, formerly head of marketing at General Motors and Hyundai, to head the automaker's marketing efforts.
"I think they're in a really rough position right now," said John O'Dell, a 'green car' analyst with the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.
Even if Fisker somehow solved all its financial problems immediately, the company would still be weeks away, at least, from being able to build and sell cars again to generate income.
"This is pretty close to a death knell for Fisker," he said.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/05/autos/fisker-lay-offs/