There were two interesting stories in the automotive world that caught my eye this week. The first was about Ford, who had a pretty good 2012. Their Focus was the best selling car in the world last year, and their F-series pickup and Fiesta subcompact were also the top sellers in their classes.
The other story was about Fisker, who didn’t have such a good year. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re a manufacturer of very high end (we’re talking $100,000ish) hybrid sports cars. They’re very cool, but there’s virtually no market for them. They haven’t made any cars at all since last summer. Consequently, they’re looking at filing for bankruptcy, probably this week or next.
It’s interesting to note that Ford famously didn’t take the government bail-out money in the way other domestic car manufacturers did. And now, years later, Ford is strong. Fisker, on the other hand, took a $529 million loan from the Department of Energy. They can’t repay that loan, so they’re facing sale or collapse.
Interesting, but not surprising. We’ve seen it time and time again, particularly with “green” companies like Fisker – Solyndra or Tesla, anyone? Government incentives and loans don’t work. Fisker is failing because almost no one really wants a $100,000 hybrid. All the government loans in the world won’t change that basic fact. Ford, on the other hand, is producing cars that are far less exciting but that people do want to buy. That model works without any need for taxpayer money to prop it up.
Maybe the government will learn this time?
