Fisker Automotive announced yesterday that it will build the Nina sedan at the former General Motors (GM) plant in Delaware.  With help from the $528 million government loan, this represents another step towards renewing and reenergizing the automobile industry.  These are the beginnings of a positive turnaround in more ways than one:

Firstly, of course, it will provide 2,500 much needed jobs in the manufacturing industry—employment in manufacturing has fallen by more than 150,000 in the last three months.  It is hoped that Project Nina will also provide up to an additional 3,000 vendor and supplier jobs by 2014, as production ramps up to full capacity of 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles per year.

Secondly, Project Nina will be Fisker Automotives’ second production vehicle after the Karma.  Unlike the Karma however, the Nina will be a family sedan expected to sell for about $40,000 (after a $7,500 federal tax credit).  Clearly this is not yet a price acceptable to a majority of Americans, but it will definitely be a step in the right direction and is comparable with the Nissan Leaf and GM Volt (both expected to be around $30,000).  Remember of course that these vehicles will be cheaper to operate than traditional automobiles because fuel costs will be lower.

Thirdly, and from the nation’s perspective, most importantly, the retooled plant will produce plug-in hybrid vehicles, or PHEVs, that use both an electric motor powered by electricity and a traditional internal combustion engine powered by gasoline for propulsion.  Further expansion of this concept to pure electric vehicles (EVs) and the deployment of PHEVs and EVs in large scale across the light-duty vehicle sector have real potential to significantly reduce U.S. oil dependence.  As a consequence, national and economic security can be greatly improved.

Making transformational shifts in the automobile industry will be hard and expensive.  But they are necessary to ensure this nation’s future prosperity and economic competitiveness.

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