Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. has finalized the purchase of a former General Motors Corp. factory in Delaware.
The hybrid automaker announced Monday it bought the 3.2 million-square-foot Wilmington Assembly plant for $20 million from Motors Liquidation Co.
Motors Liquidation is a holding company formed in General Motors’ bankruptcy.
The purchase is backed by a $528.7 million Department of Energy loan for the development of two plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The loans are part of a $25 billion fund approved by Congress in 2007 to spur automakers to build electric and fuel-efficient autos.
The automaker is developing a luxury sedan, the Karma, which run off a combination gas and battery engine developed with Irvine-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc.
Fisker plans to use its federal loan and recent funding to advance the Karma and to develop a lower-cost plug-in hybrid the company is calling Project Nina.
Project Nina is expected to be built in Delaware starting in 2012.
The automaker hopes to hire upward of 2,000 workers at the plant.
The Karma, due later this year, is currently being made by a contract manufacturer in Finland.
General Motors shut down production at the Delaware plant last July. Fisker announced its intent to acquire the plant in October.
Fisker plans to spend about $175 million to retool it for the hybrid sedan.
