Fisker Automotive on Tuesday confirmed earlier speculation by announcing it will build plug-in hybrid cars at a former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware.
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Fisker executives made the announcement inside the dormant facility today along with vice president Joe Biden, Delaware governor Jack Markell and state officials.
The plant will build Fisker’s Project NINA, an affordable, family-oriented plug-in hybrid sedan costing about US$39,900 after federal tax credits.
Production is scheduled to begin in late 2012. Fisker said the project will ultimately create or support 2,000 factory jobs and more than 3,000 vendor and supplier jobs by 2014, as production ramps up to full capacity of 75,000-100,000 vehicles per year. More than half will be exported, the largest percentage of any domestic manufacturer.
The modernized Wilmington Assembly plant was selected for its size, production capacity, world-class paint facilities, access to shipping ports, rail lines and available skilled workforce. It most recently built roadsters for Saturn, Pontiac and Opel.
Fisker Automotive has signed a letter of intent with Motors Liquidation (‘old GM’) to purchase the Wilmington plant for $18m after a routine four-month evaluation period.
An additional $175m will be spent to refurbish and retool the factory over the next three years.
Funds will come from a conditional loan of $528.7m the Department of Energy awarded the company in September.
The loan is part of the $25bn Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan programme (ATVM) appropriated by Congress in 2007 to help the United States lead in the development and manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles.
The company’s first car, the Karma, will be the world’s first production plug-in hybrid when it goes on sale this summer at retailers in the US and Europe.
Wilmington Assembly plant was built by General Motors in 1947 and was eventually expanded to 3.2m sq ft on 142 acres of land. It includes an on-site powerhouse and waste water treatment facility. Over 8.5m cars were manufactured there, including the Pontiac Streamliner, original Chevrolet Impala, 1997-1999 Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn L-Series and the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky/Opel GT roadsters. Production capacity is 300,000 cars per year.
