China’s Wanxiang Group has raised its offer for Fisker Automotive, which is a close rival of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), making it even more complex for the struggling electric vehicle company, says a report from Mercurynews. Wanxiang added $10 million in cash to its previous bid.
Fisker prefer Hybrid over Wanxiang
According to an attorney of Fisker’s official committee of unsecured creditors, Wanxiang may increase the bid if the judge approves a competitive auction for Fisker.
“They have told us they have considerable room to go,” said William Baldiga, the attorney.
However, Fisker has asked the judge to grant permission for a private sale to Hybrid Technology, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li. Hybrid acquired Department of Energy loan of $25 million to become Fisker’s senior secured lender a deal that resulted in a loss of $139 million to U.S. taxpayers.
Hybrid wants to buy Fisker’s remaining assets in bankruptcy, and the court will hear the case on Friday. Fisker, a Southern California based company that plans to manufacture high end cars at a former General Motors plant in Delaware, filed for bankruptcy protection in November after receiving a $529 million loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Fisker was allowed a loan of $192 million under Obama’s green-energy loan, however, in 2011; the officials cancelled the funding after the company failed to fulfill the stipulated conditions for its Karma luxury vehicle.
Attorneys of both the companies want the court to approve the sale as soon as possible. Judge Kevin Gross assured the attorneys of a fair hearing on Friday.
Tesla thrives, unlike Fisker
At a time when Fisker is struggling to continue operations, arch-rival Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is bagging all the lime light and awards for the best technology of the year. Recently, the company won the AOL Auto’s second annual Technology of the Year award.
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s supercharger has been an incredible breakthrough as there are around 54 charging stations in the U.S. that can charge an electric car in under an hour compared to the 8 hours from traditional outlets. Editorial staff praised the Tesla superchargers saying they deserve to be called technology of the year.
Sebastian Blanco, editor of Autoblog Green said, “Tesla is showing, again, that there are amazing technological breakthroughs to be made in the EV game, and are kind of making the rest of the industry look bad.”
