• Fisker Automotive’s product strategy is to first and foremost establish strong Karma sales worldwide in 2012 and generate a strong business, and then to plan for the introduction of Nina at Delaware Assembly with the help of a loan from the DOE or other sources.

• With Karma we have made tremendous progress in a very short amount of time, developing and launching an all-new luxury plug-in hybrid Electric Vehicle with extended range (EVer) that is taking the auto industry in a new direction.

• With Project Nina, we have completed Phase One of the re-commissioning of a former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware.

• We have temporarily delayed work at the plant based on ongoing discussions with the DOE regarding funding for the Project Nina program. As a result, we have laid-off 26 people.

• A flex model of expanding and contracting staffing for development of new cars is routine in the automotive industry. Project Nina is already well-advanced. Much of the engineering, design and development is near complete and we expect to ramp up operations again quickly.

• To date we have received $193m of the $529m DOE loan, mostly for the Karma (K) program, and received our last reimbursement in May 2011. We are renegotiating some terms of the DOE agreement for the $336m balance of the loan related to the Project Nina program

• Fisker Automotive is in the middle of discussions with the DOE, however Fisker has been, and continues to pursue, alternative funding sources. We have successfully raised an additional $260 million of equity in late 2011, bringing the total amount of private equity financing to more than $850 million.

Bernhard Koehler speaking at Delaware conference

Fisker Automotive COO Bernhard Koehler offered new insight into the company’s plans at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce legislative brunch and manufacturing conference on Wednesday.

In just 8 weeks, Fisker Automotive will start moving into the former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Koehler mentioned that Fisker is actively seeking to establish agreements with suppliers near the Delaware site, and will host a supply fair in May to see if partnership with local businesses is possible. Fisker’s project Nina is expected to enter production in 2012 with Karma production being shifted to the Delaware plant at a later, unspecified date. Fisker Automotive aims to operate the Wilmington plant at full production in 2014 at a rate of 100,000 cars per year. Besides the Karma and Nina sedans, model derivatives including a convertible version of the Karma named the Sunset and coupe and crossover variants of the Nina will contribute to the 100,000 per year total.

Fisker plans to build cars in Delaware for export markets as well — especially Europe.

Interestingly, Koehler mentioned that Fisker Automotive is looking to partner with other automakers to develop its next models. Who do you think are suitable partners for Fisker?

Add your thoughts in our Fisker forum.

[Photo credit @DEStateChamber on Twitter]