Think's request for help going unanswered, not all orders guaranteed to ship
We learned earlier today that Norwegian electric automaker Th!nk had requested a handout from the Norwegian government. We've now heard that the government is not likely to give the EV maker any money. According to a translation of a piece in the Norwegian news source Dagbladet by AutoblogGreen reader Leif E., the government will not step in, saying that helping one company but not others was not sound policy. Th!nk's claim that it needs $15-30 million in government-backed funds within weeks to avoid bankruptcy was apparently not enough of a reason for the government to step in and it looks like at least half of Th!nk's 250 employees will be laid off in January. Think CEO Richard Canny said his company was "in a dire situation."
So, what happens to the Th!nk City cars? The 100-150 that have been started will be finished, but Canny didn't guarantee that everybody who ordered one will eventually get it. More than ever before, Th!nk's plan to sell the electric cars to the most EV-friendly cities in Europe looks to be in doubt. And the Ox?
One of the other EV manufacturers mentioned in the piece is Buddy. Many thanks to ABG reader Leif E. for the help!
UPDATE: Will wealthy investors save Th!nk?
Gallery: Th!nk Ox
[Source: Dagbladet]
Translation courtesy of Leif E (edited for grammar):
The Government is not stepping in to help ThInk - Could mean deathstroke for the electric car
The government will not intervene directly to save the EV producer that is fighting yet another prospect of bankruptcy. Between 125 & 175 employees will be laid off after New Years. The company is low on cash and on Monday asked for a government-backed guarantee on a 15-30 million dollar loan. "There are many corporations that are troubled in today's financial crisis. The government can buy itself in or give loans to single corporations," said State secretary in the Business department Rikke Lind.
The Think employees have been given a warning for layoffs and Think confirms that 50-70% of the total of 250 workers will be laid off from the middle of January. "We are in a dire situation" the CEO of Think, Richard Canny said after a board meeting Monday afternoon.
Canny said that capital has been very hard to come by for the expansion of Think in the current climate and that he had hoped the government would take measures. The State secretary encouraged Think to apply for funds through the Innovation Norway channels that are government-backed and said that the government will have something for the overall crisis in the beginning of the next year. But this is probably not fast enough for Think.
"We need capital within 3-4 weeks" Canny said. To that Rikke Lind replied: "It is the owners and the management that have to take the responsibility for the situation the enterprise is in. The government can't go in to a single business. That is not correct business policy"
She also pointed to the fact that there are 2 other EV producers in Norway and that that complicates action from the government. Lind was in contact with the management of Think last week but there had been no contact this weekend.
The Think City´s that have been started on will be finished. That means 100-150 cars. But Canny can't guarantee that everybody who ordered one will get it. Think went bankrupt for the second time in 2006. Canny didn't want to get specific on how near the company is to bankruptcy now, with the exception that the situation for the company is "critical"
He says that it has to be producing 5,000-7,000 cars a year before Think will have a balanced budget. Today, they are making 8-10 cars a day and the annual capacity is 5000 cars. The Australian Canny, who has 25 years behind him at Ford, overtook the CEO post in October. He still has good faith in the electric car.
"This is the future for the car industry," he said. Canny also added that he has been contacted by representatives from different countries and their governments expressing their concerns for what is happening to the EV producer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 7:44PM (12/15/2008)
Consumers are looking for the green car but didn't found it in this little battery car, too limp and short ranged. Politics have to cease in the automotive business and gasoline have to remain below 2$/gallon and i will keep my dodge neon 2005 for years to come. Many billions have been spend in vains by businessmans, car manufacturers, goverments, all of these are incompetants. I said many times to put a used car for sale with hho ingestion. That way it cost 2000$ -4000$ more then the cost of the used car and can sale for an extra 3 000$ and after many succesful sale the technology become cheaper and the particular businessman makes money and it grow. Instead goverments and car manufacturers and new manufacturers like this exemple 'i think' give consumers inne3ficient products.
People here have now to admit to me that pure battery car are not succesful. And i say that phev will not be succesful because it cost 2x time the money to build then a regular ice car of the same performance.
I told you the right thing to do like natural gas, green algae farming, hydrogen and i received ton of criticisms.
But im a good guy and im still interrested to buy 1 water powered car by a major manufacturer of a used car dealer with a tuning mechanical shop at his/her business in canada.
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Chris M 2:35AM (12/17/2008)
Gorr, It's really hilarious how eager you are to proclaim the "failure" of plug-ins, based solely on the difficulties of just one company in a bad economy that still will manage to produce a hundred or more cars - then you want to buy a "water car" even though not a single one has been sold by anyone anywhere. ROFLMAO!
The ratio of electric cars sold to "water cars" sold is approx.
38,000 to Zilch.
Erik Spek 9:40AM (12/25/2008)
It is so easy to sit back and criticize those who take calculated risks and then say I told you so when external forces cause pear shaped consequences. One of the reasons we got to where we are now is that we are hooked on cheaply priced fossils and getting off those drugs costs money - lots of it! Do some homework and you'll find that energy storage technology has development timeframes of decades to market and money measured in the hundreds of millions. That is why there are very few 'breakthroughs' that make it very far. It is a human curse to look for easy answers to very difficult problems and them curse the consequences. Get used to it - there is no single technology that even comes close to the positive sides of fossil fuels but with some informed customers and supporters we might be able to nurture good hybrids and EVs as a replacement.
Joe B. 8:28PM (12/15/2008)
Some thing smells fishy. Th!nk executives were in London just recently to show case the car to UK parliament. If they were so cash strapped shouldn't they cut back on the travel?
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Joe B. 9:45AM (12/16/2008)
I thought there was a bullish article on this site just last week about Th!nk. I can't find the link now.
Torbjorn 12:40AM (12/16/2008)
Proof is in the Pudding.
Not many people want or can use a battery only car at this time. Hybrids are an entirely different animal and will continue to be successful. I would not put any money into a company this is making battery only cars.....even if your like me, that loves the technology and so on.
That being said...count me in as an ICE buyer that uses many different fules (propane, CNG, Hydrogen and so on). This will be the case for many years to come.
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Yanquetino 12:29PM (12/16/2008)
Th!nk is struggling due to an economic crisis --which it did nothing to create--, yet the sockpuppet vultures immediately start circling above? What a world, what a world....
"Not many people want or can use a battery only car"...? I'd sure like to see that study, survey, questionnaire. I thought that most people drive less that 40 miles per day. In fact, 98% of drivers travel less that the Th!nk City's range on a daily basis. That is how to define "not many people"? What a crock of caca.
In the meantime, sure: let's keep burning fossil fuels, since the pusher has again dropped the price for a fix.
I hope that Th!nk does pull through these hard times, as we need EVs more than ever and not everyone can afford a Tesla.
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DEREK R. HARTFIELD 12:06PM (12/18/2008)
WELL, I understand the Goverment's position on "not helping one company, but helping another(policy wise) but this is a future product, someting that even the American syas it would help American auto makers, financialy backing them upto tens of millions of dollars because it promotes clean air, and makes us free from Oli dependantability, this is what everybody is talking about, the next major move for the future, tis company TH!NK is putting it into ACTION and their Goverment is afraid to help when it should rush to help them and any other company that is thinking FORWARD motion with our future, or we can sit and complain about where we are and predict the future when we should fourge the future
Derek R. Hartfield, pres. GNTV Network Inc.
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DEREK R. HARTFIELD 12:10PM (12/18/2008)
WELL, I understand the Goverments position on "not helping one company, but helping another(policy wise) but this is a future product, something that even the American Goverment says it would help American auto makers, financialy backing them up to tens of millions of dollars because it promotes clean air, and makes us free from Oli dependability, this is what everybody is talking about, the next major move for the future, this company TH!NK is putting it into ACTION and their Goverment is afraid to help when it should rush to help them and any other company that is thinking FORWARD motion with our future, or we can sit and complain about where we are and predict the future when we should fourge the future
Derek R. Hartfield, pres. GNTV Network Inc
Reply