Car Co. Gets U.S Loan- Builds Cars In Finland

By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) and RONNIE GREENE
ABC NEWS and iWATCH NEWS
Oct. 20, 2011

With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.

Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department's $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs.

But two years after the loan was announced, the company's manufacturing jobs are still limited to the assembly of the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car in Finland.

"There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle," the car company's founder and namesake told ABC News. "They don't exist here.":!:

Henrik Fisker said the U.S. money has been spent on engineering and design work that stayed in the U.S., not on the 500 manufacturing jobs that went to a rural Finnish firm, Valmet Automotive.

"We're not in the business of failing; we're in the business of winning. So we make the right decision for the business," Fisker said. "That's why we went to Finland."

The loan to Fisker is part of a $1 billion bet the Energy Department has made in two politically connected California-based electric carmakers producing sporty -- and pricey -- cutting-edge autos. Fisker Automotive, backed by a powerhouse venture capital firm whose partners include former Vice President Al Gore, predicts it will eventually be churning out tens of thousands of electric sports sedans at the shuttered GM factory it bought in Delaware. And Tesla Motors, whose prime backers include PayPal mogul Elon Musk and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, says it will do the same in a massive facility tooling up in Silicon Valley.

An investigation by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News that will air on "Good Morning America" found that the DOE's bet carries risks for taxpayers, has raised concern among industry observers and government auditors, and adds to questions about the way billions of dollars in loans for smart cars and green energy companies have been awarded. Fisker is more than a year behind rolling out its $97,000 luxury vehicle bankrolled in part with DOE money. While more are promised soon, just 40 of its Karma cars (below) have been manufactured and only two delivered to customers' driveways, including one to movie star Leonardo DiCaprio. Tesla's SEC filings reveal the start-up has lost money every quarter. And while its federal funding is intended to help it mass produce a new $57,400 Model S sedan, the company has no experience in a project so vast.


There is intense scrutiny of the decisions made by the Department of Energy as it invests billions of taxpayer dollars in alternative energy. The questions come in the wake of the administration's failed $535 million investment in solar panel maker Solyndra. The company's collapse, bankruptcy and raid by FBI agents generated a litany of questions about how the Energy Department doles out billions in highly sought after green energy seed money...


For more on the Obama administration's Fisker's auto loan program...

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/car-c...-finland/story?id=14770875&fb_ref=abc-fb-recs

 

Ms. Kunoichi, this will only get a yawn from most. You notice nothing had been said here about Solyndra that went belly up of $535 billion dollars of taxpayers money gone. I hear there is another (possibly several) company that will default on a trillion dollars on alternative energy. This government is wasting untold billions of taxpayers money. I would love to see the data on how much is wasted in education for instance with the damn unions.

 

Unions are a private entity not a government one and truthfully I'm beginning to see why a lot of these jobs aren't staying here. People here refuse to train for those kinds of jobs. You know how many people I know are fricking education majors. The market is getting oversaturated with social science and liberal arts majors. Too many lazy ass people are afraid of sciences. I thank God that I am naturally math inclined.

 

Let's stop pretending Paniro that a Republican president is going to offer incentives for U.S. companies to keep their production here domestically.

It really bothers me that these companies are being given blank checks from Uncle Sam and choosing to screw the Feds over.

What special skillset do Finnish workers have that U.S. employees don't???
Is Henrik Fisker even an American citizen??

Someone in the Oval Office got hustled.

EDIT: Tell me Paniro, how is the U.S. economy going to miraculously rebound and add 3+ million jobs(!!) a year when Romney/Perry is elected??

I think we slip into another recession if a Republican wins in 2012. Corporate America has said 'FUCK YOU' to the U.S. labor force for the last 30 years.

Unless there's a new industrial revolution in the next couple of years, I don't see how this economy makes a long term recovery.

That's why the GOP refuses to talk about creating jobs or incentivizing U.S. companies to hire more workers.
Because they can't and they know it.

 

Or is on it

 

If Obama was about the money he wouldn't be withdrawing troops from Iraq.

 

Are you serious lol

 

Easiest cash to make is a kickback from a military contractor for providing weapons and supplies to U.S. forces.

Obama doesn't really have corporate ties except his big money donors.
I definitely don't think Obama is getting a grip from some electric auto company or a failed solar panel builder.

 

I definitely think someone in his inner circle is though. No such thing as an honest government official.

 

True.

A POTUS is only as corrupt or honest as the people around him, that's why it's so dangerous to have a mental midget in the WH.
Presidents anyway have to put their utmost trust in the counsel of 'expert' advisors, and if those same people are running a hustle on the POTUS in can crumble his administration.

Obama NEVER should have had so many Wall Street connected, former Goldman Sachs bankers with positions of influence in his administration.

We need a President who can think on his own and not have to rely completely on what other people around him believe is the right thing to do.