Fisker Automotive Inc. has disclosed that it has obtained $600 million in venture-capital funding to date. The company, which is a maker of luxury plug-in hybrid cars, intends to seek more funds before it will deliver its first batch of vehicles in July. Last May 12, the company revealed a plan to obtain $100 million, and has since raised that amount to $115 million, the company’s chief financial officer Joe DaMour stated in a telephone interview Thursday.
The company concluded two similar rounds during the middle of 2010 and early 2011 that each raised $190 million, DaMour further disclosed. However, he refused to discuss the timing of a possible initial public offering for the company. DaMour stated that the company is in a “very solid financial position” and will maintain or strengthen that. On another note, customers in the U.S. will begin receiving Fisker's first plug-in model, the Karma sports car, by the middle of July.
This sports vehicle can go about 50 miles (80 kilometers) on battery power before the power runs out. Then a gasoline engine will propel it. Henrik Fisker, the company's chief executive officer, had previously disclosed during a November 2010 interview that an IPO was possible after starting the production and sales for Karma. The price of this model ranges from $95,800 to $108,000, before a $7,500 federal tax credit, Fisker disclosed. In 2009, the company obtained a $529 million federal loan, along with its privately raised capital, that is being utilized to renovate a Delaware plant formerly owned by General Motors Co. This plant will be producing the company’s Nina model, which is a lower-priced plug-in vehicle, beginning in 2013.
