Comments on: Analyst: Pretty certain Fisker’s DOE loan is gone

By: Katie Fehrenbacher

Katie Fehrenbacher — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:05:35 +0000

Thanks folks, will go check them out.

By: Andy Chu

Andy Chu — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:10:20 +0000

This is Andy Chu, VP of Marketing & Communications at A123. While everyone is entitled their opinion, the analyst quote that you call out continues to perpetuate a misperception that A123 is critically dependent on Fisker. A123 has a diversified customer portfolio, from transportation to grid to commercial and industrial applications. Within transportation, we have 22 production customers, serving both passenger and commercial vehicle applications. Some of A123’s publicly announced transportation production customers are: ALTe, Axeon, BAE Systems, BMW, Daimler, Delphi, Fisker Automotive, GM, Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, Navistar, Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), Smith Electric Vehicles, and VIA Motors. Numerous analysts have said that A123 is in the Top 5 of advanced automotive battery suppliers globally, including Roland Berger, Pike Research, and Menahem Anderman (AABC). See these recent blog posts for more information:
http://info.a123systems.com/blog/bid/124040/Leaders-Emerging-from-the-Pack-in-the-Advanced-Automotive-Battery-Market

http://info.a123systems.com/blog/bid/124677/What-is-the-Best-Approach-to-Determine-the-Leaders-in-the-Advanced-Automotive-Battery-Market

It’s worth noting that 10 out of 14 of analysts that follow A123 are either neutral or positive. In fact, in the same Boston Globe article that you reference, Dan Galves, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, is quoted as saying:
“The importance of any one customer to A123 will be reduced significantly in future years.”
“We still see this company as having done very well in terms of carving out a position in the advanced lithium-ion battery market.”

We’ll try to do a better job of getting information out, but to view our company as dependent on one customer has always been a mistake.

By: Doug King

Doug King — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 03:05:06 +0000

Katie, sorry I hadn’t checked back for replies, but I think AnOutsider and BJ covered it. I for one would like to see Fisker succeed. If Fisker were to fail, I think it would be damaging to the industry, particularly given the current political climate.

By: drew

drew — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:45:54 +0000

It’s funny to hear the comments of many people acting as if this start up is a a”typical start up”. The fact of the matter is Fisker’s cars are not cheap and new start up or not, for the price they are charging the Karma is junk. U.S. taxpayer dollars should not be used for this program. As far as engineering and design are concerned, the jobs created by this initiative are primarily for concepting and prototyping. The long lasting jobs regarding production design, release and follow up (if it makes it that far) will end up in China. Just as someone in the engineering arena in Anaheim…the development of the karma (as well as the Nina) seems to have been organized like a college project…and the results of the karma reflect that…the rumor is if this thing flops, someone (namely a certain European automotive company) will get A very nicely styled body/chassis that can be easily outfitted with a conventional driveline for pennies on the dollar at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer….

By: Katie Fehrenbacher

Katie Fehrenbacher — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:48:33 +0000

@Paul, I obviously knew about the battery problem and also the software issue that Fisker had recalls over. I covered both on this site. I thought he was referring to more problems with the current Karmas that have already been shipped to customers. @Doug King, Do you want to weigh in?

By: PeterE

PeterE — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:31:56 +0000

I totally agree. That so-called “analyst” is totaly off-base and I’m surprised at Katie for giving him so much exposure. Do you think Fisker’s major backers, including VC giant Kleiner Perkins, would let a few hundred million dollars “croak” their chance at launching the Next Great American Car Company? In a few months, this whole DoE loan BS will be seen as just a minor bump in the road. The Karma has just been
cleared for sale in Europe, where it will probably be the first American car to make a major splash on the other side of the pond. It’s already won Top Gear’s award for Best Luxury Car — and they hated EVs up till now.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:03:25 +0000

A123 is the one that has had the problem with the battery that caused Fisker to go back and check them. I’m surprised that Katie wrote such a negative article and didn ‘t know such a common fact.

By: paulbip

paulbip — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:55:03 +0000

It is A123 that has had the battery problems, not Fisker.

By: BJ

BJ — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:53:13 +0000

Katie,

AnOutsider has been posting on the Fisker buzz forums for a while, often critical of the car and the company, but is not an actual vehicle owner as far as I know. If you are interested in speaking to a vehicle owner I would happily speak with you.

There have definitely been some launch glitches, many of which center around the infotainment system, and an electrical grounding issue which led to some owners experiencing erratic behavior. What AnOutsider fails to mention is that Fisker has released several software updates since those initial reports which correct many (but not yet all) of the infotainment and dashboard issues, and have replaced the grouding mechanism on all delivered cars.

I can only speak directly of my experience, but I’ve never rebooted my car, have never been stranded, nor have I ever had any mechanical, safety or performance issues.

The vehicle isn’t completely perfect, but I suspect the first few hundred of any brand new model see similar problems.

What seems to be lost in the noise is that this isn’t a static issue; Fisker is actively and rapidly addressing problems as they become aware of them. I have every reason to beleive the issues AnOutsider is referring to are resolvable and temporary.

Unfortunatley there seem to be people who are only interested in sensational headlines, advancing a political viewpoint or rooting for failure. That’s Quite sad. I encourage you form your own opinion.

By: Katie Fehrenbacher

Katie Fehrenbacher — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:35:13 +0000

It definitely puts more pressure on the Karma having to sell.