ANAHEIM, Calif. — Fisker Automotive Inc., a high-end electric car manufacturer now looking for investors, has furloughed employees for a week to conserve cash, it was reported today.
Callers to Fisker’s Anaheim office were greeted Thursday with a message advising that the office was closed Friday, March 22, and would remain closed through Sunday, March 31, the Los Angeles Times reported. The furloughs came just two weeks after the company’s founder, Henrik Fisker, resigned as
executive chairman amid a management dispute.
The furloughs are the latest in a string of bad news for the automaker, which stopped making its electric-gas hybrids last July and has faced recalls, car fires and problems with lithium-ion batteries, the Orange County Register reported.
The company faces an April 22 deadline to make a payment on a loan from the U.S. government, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal also reported that the the company has hired restructuring lawyers Kirkland & Ellis to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing.
Company spokesman Roger Ormisher told the Register he could confirm the reports regarding a possible bankruptcy. He said about 220 workers will return to the job on Monday.
