Fisker: Doomed to Be the Next DeLorean?

Fisker: It's the sexy electric sedan that Justin Bieber was busted speeding in and which scored a $529 million loan from the Obama administration. Now it's hurtling toward bankruptcy. So what went wrong? asks the Wall Street Journal. Faulty software, suppliers going bust, delayed releases, and car recalls have all stacked up to put the company in dire financial straits. "It was so vulnerable to software errors, and the parts used were of such poor quality that eventually I insisted they take the car back and return my purchase price, which they did," says one former Fisker Karma driver. "It's a real shame, the car itself was beautiful."

Fisker hasn't built a car since July 2012, has canned most of its staff, just missed a loan repayment, and recently had $21 million seized by the feds. It still owes the government $192 million, says the NY Daily News. If it doesn't find a new investor or a buyer soon, the luxury Fisker Karma will likely go the way of the DeLorean—and we don't mean it will be re-engineered for wacky time travel adventures. This could prove problematic for the White House, too—new documents show the administration may have known Fisker was in trouble as early as 2010, the AP reports. (More Fisker Automotive stories.)