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| Wanxiang America Chicago |
The Chinese auto conglomerate Wanxiang Group has
bought electric automaker Fisker Automotive, marking the second time they
snatched up a failed green firm that received taxpayer dollars.
The bankrupt Fisker was
sold to Wanxiang last week for $149.2 million and the sale was
approved by the bankruptcy court on Tuesday. Last year, the Energy Department’s
$192 million loans of Fisker was sold off to Wanxiang for $25 million —
netting taxpayers a $139 million loss.
This is the second time a green energy company that
got a loan guarantee from the Obama administration was sold off to Chinese investors,
garnering criticism from conservatives that hundreds of millions of taxpayer
dollars have been wasted for the benefit of foreign businessmen.
“In 2009, Secretary Chu promised American taxpayers
that a $528.7 million conditional loan for Fisker Automotive would create or
save 5,000 jobs,” Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn told The Daily
Caller News Foundation.
“The height of Fisker’s employment barely reached
over 200 employees,” Blackburn added. “The only thing worse than these continued
broken promises and lack of accountability from this administration
is that yet another company that received taxpayer funding will be sold to
China’s Wanxiang Group.”
Fisker got a $529 million loan guarantee from the
Obama administration in 2009 to produce a luxury hybrid car, the Fisker
Karma, which sold for a $103,000 per unit. The company struggled to sell cars
and meet benchmarks set out by the Energy Department and had its funding cut in
2011 after drawing down on $192 million.
Involved in automotive and industrial markets in the U.S., Wanxiang America is the source for all of Wanxiang Group/China's products in the United States.
Also based here is the American arm of the America-China Bridge Program, a unique program to give American companies an inside track when trading with China.
Question: How many American companies do we have physically located in China?
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