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In an announcement no one really expected, Fisker Automotive has said it will purchase a former General Motors manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Delaware, to use as the assembly location for its upcoming “affordable” plug-in hybrids. The announcement was made inside the plant, with Delaware governor Jack Markell and native Delawarean Vice President Joe Biden in attendance.

Fisker will use the plant to assemble the vehicle that results from its Project NINA initiative, in which the company promises a family-oriented plug-in hybrid sedan that will come in at around $40K (the company quotes the marketing-friendly price of $39,900) after federal tax credits. The model will be in addition to the Karma luxury sedan, which Fisker says will start around $90,000. Production at the plant is slated to begin in 2012, with an eventual yearly capacity of 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles. Fisker says it plans to export more than half of the vehicles it produces, a figure it claims would be the highest among domestic automakers.

Fisker signed a letter of intent to buy the facility from Motors Liquidation Co.—the bad-asset corporation that resulted from GM’s recent bankruptcy proceedings—for a token $18 million. Fisker plans to then spend an additional $175 million to ready the plant for production over the next three years. The will use part of the $528.7 million Department of Energy loan it received in September.

The Wilmington assembly plant opened in 1947 and most recently served as the home of the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, and exported Opel GT, all of which shared the Kappa platform. The last GM vehicle to roll off the line was a silver Solstice when the plant closed in July of this year.

source: caranddriver

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