het ziet er niet goed uit voor Fisker
Fisker lays off 75% of its employees amid financial woes
Mark Rechtin - Ryan Beene - Automotive News
April 5, 2013 - 12:20 pm ET -- UPDATED: 4/5/13 1:31 pm ET- adds details
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Fisker Automotive, the plug-in hybrid sports car maker that has been grappling with financial woes, said today it laid off 75 percent of its more than 200 employees.
A Fisker source who was among the employees affected said the layoff took place at about 8 a.m. local time (11 a.m. EDT). About 160 people lost their jobs, according to the source and people who identified themselves as employees.
In a statement released by the company at 12:21 p.m. EDT, Fisker said it is continuing efforts to find a strategic partner.
"Our efforts to secure a strategic alliance or partnership are continuing in earnest, but unfortunately we have reached a point where a significant reduction in our workforce has become necessary," the statement said.
"The company regrets having to terminate any of its hardworking and talented people. But this was a necessary strategic step in our efforts to maximize the value of Fisker's core assets."
Hugh Sawyer, Fisker's chief administrative officer and managing director of Huron Consulting Group, a turnaround specialist, informed employees about the terminations at a company meeting this morning.
He declined to answer questions from Automotive News as he was getting into a black Lincoln Town Car that chauffeured him off the premises at Fisker headquarters.
At about 8:30 a.m., employees were seen leaving Fisker headquarters here, some carrying boxes and many with large white envelopes. The former Fisker employees said they were given no severance pay, other than compensation for unused vacation days.
Fisker will retain about 53 senior managers and executives, a source told Reuters today, primarily to pursue buyers for the company's assets. Another unnamed employee verified that figure to Automotive News.
The cuts came less than a week after Fisker employees returned to work on April 1 after being furloughed on March 22. Fisker also is nearing a late-April deadline to repay some of the $193 million loaned to it by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Professional help
The embattled automaker has retained crisis communications firm Sitrick and Co., based in Los Angeles. Sitrick issued today's statement on behalf of Fisker.
Reuters reported last week that Fisker also had retained the law firm Kirkland and Ellis to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing. Earlier in March, company founder Henrik Fisker resigned citing "several major disagreements with management" over the company's business strategy.
Fisker has built about 1,800 units of its $100,000 Karma plug-in hybrid, but none since battery maker A123 Systems declared bankruptcy last summer, leaving Fisker without a battery supplier.
For months now, Fisker has been racing to find a partner or buyer to shore up its shaky finances. According to press reports, Zhejiang Geely, which owns Volvo, led the bidding to take over Fisker around the time of Fisker's resignation but later lost interest in a deal.
Dongfeng Motor Co. of China, which has collaborative on some projects with Nissan Motor Co., also had expressed interest in Fisker, but those talks appear stalled.
PRESS RELEASE: Statement of Fisker Automotive Inc., Friday, April 5, 2013
Over the last several months, Fisker Automotive Inc. has been considering strategic alternatives that would allow the Company work through its current financial challenges.
Throughout this process our primary goal has been to maximize the core value of the Fisker technology and the business that we have created.
Our efforts to secure a strategic alliance or partnership are continuing in earnest, but unfortunately we have reached a point where a significant reduction in our workforce has become necessary.
Today, Fisker met with a group of employees in our Southern California office to inform them that this is their last day with the company. Yesterday, we met with a core group of employees in Southern California to express our desire that they remain with the company while we continue to address the challenges before us. We expect that at the end of the day we will have retained approximately 25 percent of our workforce.
The Company regrets having to terminate any of its hardworking and talented people. But this was a necessary strategic step in our efforts to maximize the value of Fisker's core assets.
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