Fisker Automotive to acquire GM’s Delaware plant

California-based start-up electric car maker, Fisker Automotive has reached a deal to acquire the recently idled General Motors (GM) assembly plant in Wilmington, Delaware with the intent of using it for the manufacture of one of its two electric plug-in hybrid vehicles.

US vice president Joe Biden, whose home state is Delaware, is expected to make this announcement tomorrow along with Delaware Governor Jack Markell according to a White House spokesman, who said yesterday that the vice president will make a major announcement about the future of GM's Wilmington plant.

A spokesperson for the Irvine, California-based Fisker Automotive confirmed that talks had taken place with AlixPartners, the restructuring firm supervising the Wilmington plant, and the hybrid car maker plans to make an announcement on Tuesday.

Fisker's CEO Henrik Fisker said last week that the company would announce the location of the US site soon, where it will employ 1,500 workers to manufacture a family oriented hybrid vehicle with a capacity to roll out 100,000 cars annually.

The Wilmington plant located near the city of Newport was started by GM in 1947 and of late was producing the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice.

After emerging from bankruptcy in July, (See: General Motors emerges from bankruptcy) GM closed down the Wilmington plant in Delaware. Earlier, Chrysler had also shuttered its Delaware plant, where nearly 1,000 jobs were lost. 

Last month, the US Department of Energy granted a conditional loan of $528.7 million to Fisker Automotive for the development of affordable, fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid electric cars. (See: US loans $528.7 million to electric car maker Fisker Automotive)