Bankrupt Fisker sells assets to China's Wanxiang

The one-time star electric carmaker Fisker Automotive said Monday it sold "substantially all" of its assets to the Chinese auto parts group Wanxiang for $150 million. The news came after last year's bankruptcy filing by Fisker, whose sleek, sporty electric cars caught the eye of Justin Bieber and other celebrities. A brief statement by Fisker said the deal was completed with Wanxiang America Corp. "The completion of this transaction represents a significant achievement and is a great result for all Fisker Automotive stakeholders," said Marc Beilinson, Fisker's restructuring officer. "This successul outcome would not have been possible without the productive support from Wanxiang, our creditors' committee, and their advisors." Fisker was started in southern California in 2007 by former Aston Martin and BMW designer Henrik Fisker and German business partner Bernhard Koehler. While it did not have the expected success with its sleek hybrid Karma sports car -- which it billed as "a bold expression of uncompromised responsible luxury" -- the $100,000 vehicle did attract interest from the likes of stars such as Bieber, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher. Having struggled financially for some time, Fisker announced last year that it was laying off 75 percent of its workforce. Fisker turned into a political target for President Barack Obama's administration because it received US government loans to promote green car technology.