Fisker To Build Plug-in Hybrid Sedan at Closed GM Plant

WILMINGTON, Delaware/ARCADIA, Florida — In a dramatic example of how the power balance has shifted in the U.S. auto industry, tiny Fisker Automotive on Tuesday confirmed that it will spend $18 million to buy GM's dormant Wilmington Assembly plant in Delaware to build its plug-in hybrid sedan starting in late 2012.

The once mighty GM Wilmington plant, with its production capacity of 300,000 cars per year, built the Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn L-Series, and the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel GT roadsters.

Fisker, a high-profile startup run by former executives of Aston Martin, Ford and BMW's DesignworksUSA, was founded just two years ago and has yet to build a single vehicle. It will launch its electric 2010 Fisker Karma in the U.S. next spring. The Wilmington plant will build the 2012 Project NiNA sedan for the startup. Fisker said in a statement that it will "create or support 2,000 factory jobs by 2014, as production ramps up to full capacity of 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles per year."

Fisker plans to invest an additional $175 million to refurbish and retool the Wilmington plant. Funds will come from a conditional loan of $528.7 million that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the company in September.

Vice President Joe Biden was present on Tuesday morning in Delaware as the Fisker announcement was made. It was billed as part of a $3.4 billion investment of stimulus funds announced on Tuesday to modernize the electric grid. The Obama administration will give grants of between $400,000 to $200 million to about 100 private companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and others to help build a nationwide "smart energy grid." The improvements to the electrical grid will increase energy efficiency and independence by encouraging growth in renewable power sources, like solar, geothermal and wind, according to the administration.

Politico.com reported that President Obama's appearance in Arcadia on Tuesday to announce the smart grid plans was greeted by a few protesters, including one who held a sign reading "It's not Monopoly money."

Inside Line says: GM's Wilmington plant comes out of mothballs and gets cranked up to build the plug-in hybrids of the future. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent