Fisker responds to Fox New's report that "ignored or marginalized the truth"
Fisker Karma - Click above for high-res image gallery
Fisker Automotive has decided to not sit down and take the whole "scary Fisker foreign company" meme that Fox News is trying to spread. The California-based automaker's CEO, Henrik Fisker, issued a release today saying that some news reports "ignored or marginalized the truth, or sensationalized irrelevant aspects of the loan and our company." Guess which reports he's talking about?
Fisker's statement goes on to clarify the important points, none of which will be surprising to AutoblogGreen readers, like the fact that "No DOE funding will be used for overseas operations." Fisker also repeats that the $528.7 million in DOE loans "will be repaid, with interest, to the American taxpayer." Fisker doesn't call out Fox News by name, but he does seem saddened by what Fox did. He ends his statement by saying, "It is unfortunate how false information can be disseminated and it is our intention to correct as much of it as possible." Might be an uphill battle. Read Fisker's entire statement after the jump.
Gallery: Fisker Karma
[Source: Fisker]
PRESS RELEASE:
FISKER AUTOMOTIVE RESPONSE TO FALSE REPORTING OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOAN ANNOUNCEMENT
IRVINE, CA -- Oct. 2, 2009: American automaker Fisker Automotive was recently approved for a conditional loan of $528 million by the Department of Energy (DOE). While news reports were mostly factual, some ignored or marginalized the truth, or sensationalized irrelevant aspects of the loan and our company. Fisker Automotive would like to present the facts.
Fisker Automotive is an American car company based in Irvine, California.
The company's goals are to help restore the U.S. as a leader in the global auto industry and to eliminate America's dependence on foreign oil.
These DOE funds will help Fisker Automotive create or save at least 5,000 U.S. jobs, bring to market affordable, American-made plug-in hybrid vehicles and save more than 821 million gallons of gasoline (43.2 million barrels of oil) by 2016.
No DOE funding will be used for overseas operations.
Through private funding, and at no cost to taxpayers, the company has already supported hundreds of American jobs by partnering with major auto suppliers to develop the world's first production plug-in hybrid car, the Fisker Karma.
This will put the American auto industry ahead of foreign competition.
The Karma has been designed and engineered in the U.S. with the majority (65% by cost) of its parts sourced from American suppliers. Fisker Automotive searched for a U.S. plant to assemble the Karma, but none were willing or able to build the 15,000 of these advanced vehicles per year Fisker required.
The low-volume Karma will therefore be assembled in Finland by Valmet Automotive, one of the most respected contract auto builders in the world.
The next generation Karma will be built entirely in the U.S.
The Karma is a technology leader necessary to reduce costs for Project NINA, the development of a more affordable, family-oriented plug-in hybrid vehicle to be made in America at a retooled assembly plant in 2012. The resulting vehicle will sell for about $39,900 after federal tax credits.
Engineering on Project NINA has already begun.
Fisker Automotive expects to export half its vehicles, the most of any American car company.
As reported by the DOE, $169.3 million of the loan will be used by Fisker Automotive as the company works with primarily U.S. suppliers to complete engineering work on the Karma. This work will be conducted in Pontiac, Michigan and Irvine, California.
The remaining $359.36 million will support Project NINA and its manufacture of 75,000-100,000 plug-in hybrids per year at a retooled U.S. assembly plant, beginning in 2012.
The DOE loan is conditional. In order to receive the funds Fisker Automotive must meet very specific milestones. Money is disbursed in small amounts only if the company successfully reaches these milestones.
The funds will be repaid, with interest, to the American taxpayer.
Some have asked questions about the cost of the cars.
Any new technology is expensive. Televisions, cell phones, refrigerators and even cars themselves were once too expensive for most. In time, however, costs come down. The same will happen with Fisker's plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The DOE loan to Fisker Automotive represents just two percent of the agency's $25B Advanced Technologies Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVMLP), created by Congress in November 2008 to help promote the development of energy-efficient, advanced-technology vehicles.
American cars have long been underrepresented in the global marketplace, especially those in premium segments. The U.S. used to be known for building the most exciting and desirable cars in the world. It is time America is again at the forefront, and gives buyers the choice to purchase a desirable environmentally friendly car.
When it comes to cars, an environmental strategy is no longer an option, it is a necessity. With the help of the Department of Energy, Fisker Automotive is taking action and making an investment in the future. We are immensely proud of what we are doing, and that we are doing it here in America.
It is unfortunate how false information can be disseminated and it is our intention to correct as much of it as possible.
--Henrik Fisker, CEO
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Boyprodigy1 8:04PM (10/02/2009)
Balsy; I like it. I just wonder why people take to this propaganda. Fisker (a company backed by millionaire investors) got a loan. I'm not quite sure where people see this going wrong...
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Throwback 8:23PM (10/02/2009)
Are you saying millionaire investors don't bet wrong? Fox is what they are, an entertainment network like all "news" channels are. I just want to know the answer to these questions. Is Fisker paying enough interest so we can cover our cost of borrowing the money in the first place? If not then it is not a loan. That's not his fault but that does not make it right. What tangible benefit will tax payers see from this $528 million? A few 40K EVs and a couple hundred jobs? That does not sound a like a good investment to me.
Boyprodigy1 8:37PM (10/02/2009)
No i am just saying that if Fisker doesn't pay up on the loan, millionaire investors do... So our government gets the money back regardless. Besides that the Karma is a viable car with THOUSANDS of people in line to give money to buy it. I am no genius, but i have a hunch that they are good for the money.
The loan, however, is for project Nina which will be built and sold in the U.S. It will be an affordable commuter car which uses state of the art technology. Now I am not entirely sure how this works, but i am pretty sure that its a good thing that our government is investing money to make sure that the best of the best is being built in the U.S. instead of somewhere else...
polo 10:40PM (10/02/2009)
-Fox is what they are, an entertainment network like all "news" channels are.
No, Fauxnews is a rightwing propaganda mouthpiece, that masquerades as a legitimate "news" channels. If the DNC set up an AllNewsNow channel and dedicated their airtime to spreading viscious lies while portraying themselves as unbiased reporters, I doubt you'd say the same thing.
You know there is this thing called "news" which is supposed to be fact-checked reporting and analysis on recent and relevant events, not flat-out lies distorted to make personal attacks against former political officials. I'm not surprised a Fauxnews viewer doesn't even get that.
Throwback 10:55AM (10/03/2009)
polo, I don't know you, and you certainly don't know me. I don't watch Fox, MSNBC or CNN for the same reasons. Obvious biases. If can't see the obvious bias that all of these networks exude then you have blinders on. My point is about what am I as a tax payer going to get out of fisker getting a $528 million loan? Are they going to employ enough people who will compensate for the additional debt we are taking on? For 8 years we have spent our way into a huge deficit. This year we have accelerated our debt load. If Fisker has a great business plan he should not need tax payer funds. Did he start his company because he was expecting tax payers to fund it, or because he felt he had a solid business plan?
Boyprodigy1 12:56PM (10/03/2009)
well throwback,
I am going to tell you that after college, assuming that project nina has yielded a product at the time, it will be one of the first cars that i will look at buying (along with the model s). I can honestly predict with a lot of accuracy that i will be able to afford both of these cars seeing as how i am going to school for mechanical engineering right now...
FitFan 1:05PM (10/03/2009)
throwback,
"what am I as a tax payer going to get out of Fisker getting a $528 million loan? Are they going to employ enough people who will compensate for the additional debt we are taking on?"
You seem to be having trouble with this loan concept. Americans get:
1) principle repaid and interest on the loan. additionally, the loan has fees to cover the administration cost of the loan
2) more American jobs
3) better American technology - one of the stipulations of the program is that the projects being financed must provide technology that can be later used in our country for our benefit.
If you are interested in facts, you can read some of them here:
http://www.lgprogram.energy.gov/features.html
SteveW 8:12PM (10/02/2009)
Come on, what did you expect, its Fox News.
Its not "real" news, its just another bit of entertainment for the mindless masses.
Unfortunately many of the mindless believe everything they see on TV.
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xyz 9:27PM (10/04/2009)
I have a simple solution:
1. News channel lies on front page
2. Opponent can prove it's wrong.
3. News channel has to produce the truth in the same way they produced the lie
(i.e. on front page the same weekday, on TV the same length, etc.) with a big heading:
"Sorry, we lied! The truth is:...."
4. End of the month a statement to all readers or viewers how often they lied.
That would teach them....
Ghen 10:16AM (10/05/2009)
I like your number 4 xyz. That would be friggin hilarious. Expand that to newspaper misprints too!
Larzen 8:15PM (10/02/2009)
While I think the wheels are falling off the Obama cart, electrification of
transportation is the baby in the dirty bathwater. We must continue research
in alternatives to foreign oil. BEV, PHEV, H2, BIO and other research is in our
best interest no matter what our politics. Alternatives in transportation
are apolitical. It helps us all.
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Mark Kiernan 8:27PM (10/02/2009)
I wish alternatives to oil was apolitical but unfortuetly it isn't. When you have such rubbish as drill baby drill you can see the sadly people will continue to turn it in to a political issue. The whole reason Fox News tried to sprew lies is due to the fact that green, alternative and new technology are all considered "progressive". Frankly anything that makes the country or the world a better place, there will be those trying to stop it.
jake 9:21PM (10/02/2009)
@Larzen & Mark Kiernan
Also don't forget you have a large amount of conservatives who don't believe in climate change and see any attempts to address it as a waste of time and resources.
However some do see alternatives to oil as a national security issue, but in general, I agree that anything "green" is usually seen as "progressive".
FitFan 1:09PM (10/03/2009)
I'm not sure why you think the wheels are coming off the Obama cart. Republicans will probably be successful at blocking healthcare reform, but Obama will succeed in other areas.
If nothing else he has us on track to become more energy independent after the disaster that was the Bush years. The Bush wars and the Bush tax rebates have made this the most difficult presidency in two generations, but I still have faith that Obama will help our country.
RPM 12:37AM (10/05/2009)
FitFan...thanks for that bit of entertainment. I needed a good laugh tonight!!
Larzen 12:21PM (10/11/2009)
@FitFan: Let me be more clear. I'm an advocate of Green transportation and most
Green initiatives. I think it is in the best interests of the Right, as well as the Left, to
espouse many Green initiatives. The dirty bathwater I alluded to is Obama's Marxism.
I don't think we need that in order to achieve a cleaner planet. I'm not in favor of a
Communist Green Jobs Czar, for instance (Van Jones), or any of the other Communists
he has appointed without the vetting of the Congress and Senate of the United States.
We can get there without that. You can Google "Obama Marxist, Marxism" as easily
as I can.
Jeremy 9:06PM (10/02/2009)
Yeah, Fox was wrong on this one but it bothers me significantly more that nobody is mentioning NBC. They did the SAME thing on The Today Show earlier this week and not a peep from anybody. It sickens me that NBC and the like get free reign to do or not do what they please because they are idealogically more in line with the liberal point of view, etc, and Fox gets called out on it IMMEDIATELY as some sort of hate mongering, oil pushing, right wing extremist news channel.
Nobody cared that Fox was the ONLY network covering the Acorn child prostitution scandal for a good week (and talk radio was bringing it up well before then even) before the 'liberal' networks even mentioned it once. I mean COME ON, this story had government money being spent to advise people on cheating on their income taxes in order to get "shipments" of "13-year-old" illegal alien children for the purpose of housing them in brothels and being prostitutes. PERFECT story for the news. Yet it was completely and totally swept under the table because Acorn is a good member of the liberal system and the so-called liberal media stands up for them and tried to cover this up until they simply couldn't any longer.
Fox has its issues, yes. But on this particular issue, NBC did the same thing. Personally, I think Fox news is LESS biased than the rest of the news media and you get more realistic, more truthful information. I do think that this is proven by the fact that their viewership is sooooooooo incredibly much higher than the rest of the news networks. I absolutely think the free market system works here, and if people think the news is biased they will go to a source that they think is less biased. Despite how extremely loud the 'left wing' media is about Fox -- and you hear A LOT of it because most media is, allegedly, liberal -- I do believe that the viewership proves otherwise and it, at the least, proves how the majority of the American people really think.
If you think Fox is the devil but you haven't actually watched it, why don't you try to develop your own opinion. I had a lot of biases in the past because essentially every news outlet you hear rags on talk radio, Fox news, and all sorts of other things. They are telling only one side of the story and it's important to get the other. That, and you might be surprised to realize who's on a 'side' and who tends to be less biased, despite what you've heard.
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polo 10:17PM (10/02/2009)
About the ACORN story. A few canvassers paid to say dumb stuff on camera doesn't reflect on the organization as a whole. I guess you were shouting for KFC and Burgerking to be shut down when their employees were caught taking baths in the kitchen sinks? Stupidity isn't exactly a rare thing in the workplace. And I doubt REAL pimps are seeking tax advice from voting canvassers.
meme 4:26AM (10/03/2009)
To elaborate on what Polo was mentioning: the "pimp and prostitute" are known to have been booted out the door of at least three offices; who knows how many more they visited. Of the five offices that they thought they had something good enough on to release a video for, two filed police reports immediately after and one played along to get information which he passed along to his brother (a private investigator).
It reminds me a bit of Sasha Baron Cohen's sketch where he went into a bar on as Borat (in the pre-film days) and managed to get the crowd to sing along to a rousing chorus of "Throw the Jew Down The Well"**. Never underestimate the power of the human instinct to be accomodating to strangers, even when you think their customs or beliefs are immoral.
** -- If you've never seen it before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb3IMTJjzfo
polo 10:14PM (10/02/2009)
Fauxnews is nothing but a rightwing propaganda outlet and should be shut down. Last year the party mantra was for MORE PROFITS for oil companies....they had these idiots shouting "drill baby drill" as gas was nearing $5 a gallon. Of course they are going to attack something that could affect oil profits.
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