Fisker to Acquire Former GM Plant to Make Plug-in Hybrids

DETROIT --- Fisker Automotive plans to build plug-in hybrid electric cars at a former General Motors plant in Delaware. 

The White House told the New York Times that Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the plant, near his hometown of Wilmington, for an announcement about the facility's future use. GM closed the plant in July as part of its post-bankruptcy restructuring. 

California-based Fisker has signed a letter of intent with Motors Liquidation Co. (MLC), formerly known as General Motors Corp., to buy the Wilmington plant for $18 million after a four-month evaluation period, the Associated Press reported. 

The plant will build a $48,000 hybrid car. The effort has been dubbed Project NINA.

Fisker recently won approval for $528.7 million in government loans to develop plug-ins, and the automaker expects to spend another $175 million to renovate the facility before production of next-generation hybrids begins in late 2012, AP reported.

Project NINA is expected to create or support 2,000 factory jobs and more than 3,000 vendor and supplier jobs by 2014. The plant's full production capacity will total between 75,000 and 100,000 vehicles per year, AP reported. More than half the cars will be exported.

"This is a major step toward establishing America as a leader of advanced vehicle technology," said Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker.