Pike Research
Cleantech Market Intelligence
Vice President Joe Biden Reveals Fisker’s Aggressive Product Plans
Before last week, Fisker Automotive was known to be building two plug-in hybrid electric luxury vehicles: the Karma S and Karma convertible. In September, the Department of Energy announced a $528.7 million loan to Fisker to build plug-in hybrids in the U.S. Fisker announced that this would be for bringing the Karma to the U.S. (currently will be assembled in Finland) and about two-thirds of the loan would be for “Project Nina”. Until last week, Fisker was keeping mum on “Project Nina”.
Last week, Fisker announced that with the DOE loan they would be purchasing a currently empty assembly plant in Wilmington, Delaware (a former GM plant building roadsters for Pontiac and Saturn). The photo op was attended by Vice President Joe Biden.
However, what got even more attention was when during the event Vice President Biden announced that Fisker would be building sedans, crossovers, and coupes at the plant. Many were left wondering if Biden had just revealed the future plans of Fisker.
Apparently, he had. Fox News confirmed with Fisker that Biden had actually revealed the future plans of the automaker. He also revealed that Project Nina would result in 100,000 vehicles being built in the U.S. per year (and that the new sedan that “looked like a four door Ferrari”). Fisker also announced that the Project Nina plug-in hybrid vehicles would be more affordable than their current luxury offering (they are aiming for $40,000 or less). These new product plans (at least for the moment) appear to be poised to steal the thunder from their oft-compared start-up rival, Tesla.
Don’t expect any quick response from Tesla though. In fact, I’m sure if Fisker had their druthers, Biden would not have mentioned the new sedan and crossover quite yet. In the highly competitive world of automotive design and production, product plans, technology, and prototypes are carefully guarded secrets.
This revelation shows that Fisker has big plans, and is planning to hit the key vehicle segments to achieve the kind of volume they need to be profitable. Now comes the long wait for the product to actually arrive. The first plan for the new plant is the Project Nina sedan planned for 2012 or 2013, and that will be followed by moving production of the next generation Karma in 2016 to the plant. Between 2012 and 2016, it sounds like we should expect to see a crossover and a coupe.
So, if VP Biden is to believed, by 2016 we should expect to see a wide range of products coming from Fisker in Wilmington, ranging in price from $40,000 to the high-end Karma in the $80,000-$90,000 ballpark.
Mr. Hurst, this non-story was debunked when first published about Fisker. VP Biden of course did not reveal anything more than the company wanted his to reveal. This means (for all pseudo-journalists who were “used” to perpetuate Fisker’s product) that Fisker got over on reporters such as yourself an excellent marketing ploy, which has been used for years. Individuals such as you, in a heavy-breathing attempt to make a story because our VP was involved, simply became part of Fiskers marketing tool. Congratulations. Oh, btw, as an American citizen who actually cares about incorrect information and tawdry rumor, I believe you owe Vice President Biden an apology. Good luck.
Stewart – you may be right, that Fisker somehow used Vice President Biden as a public relations tool to reveal their product plan. However, to me, that seems like the less likely scenario. The fact is Fisker had made no announcement about the coupe and SUV/Crossover for the Project Nina prior to Biden’s speech, and Fisker’s public statements after VP Biden’s speech were not as polished as I would have expected if this was all part of a prepared PR “stunt” by Fisker.
Finally, this seems like an odd PR move for Fisker as they will likely generate less press than they might have, when they start to announce new vehicles that everyone already knows are coming.
I suspect what is actually at play here is a more likely either a miscommunication between Fisker and Biden’s team or a misunderstanding about what is was public knowledge.