 "Photo: Natalie Carillo")
NEWPORT, Del. ― Vice President Joe Biden returned home on Tuesday to help state officials announce plans for an electric car manufacturer to reopen a vacant auto plant in northern Delaware.
Fisker Automotive will buy the former General Motors plant on Boxwood Road, which closed in July after 62 years in operation. The Irvine, Calif.-based company will use the site to produce a plug-in hybrid sedan currently in development.
The cars are estimated to cost approximately $39,000 after federal tax incentives. Production is expected to begin in 2012.
Speaking at the plant to an audience of mostly United Auto Workers members who used to work for GM, Biden praised Fisker's efforts to invest in energy-efficient cars.
"People said the days of America providing the wheels for the world were over, and it wasn't just the auto industry, it was all manufacturing in America," Biden said. "But we're here standing today proving the beginning of what we're going to be able to say: 'The doubters were wrong about our ability to manufacture.' "
The announcement is welcome news for Delaware, which, in the last year, has seen its once-strong auto industry vanish. In addition to the GM plant closing, Chrysler closed its Newark assembly plant in December.
Last week, the university signed a deal to purchase the Chrysler site and eventually plans to use it for a research and development facility.
"It's a bittersweet day for a lot of our brothers and sisters at Chrysler," Biden said. "We're not opening that plant again. That's not a place where we're having that kind of rebirth."
Still, the mood was celebratory among state officials, who spent the last few months lobbying Fisker officials to close their deal to purchase the GM plant.
"This is our sunny day," Sen. Tom Carper said.
The Fisker plant, which will eventually produce up to 100,000 vehicles per year, is expected to bring more than 2,000 factory jobs and 3,000 supplier jobs to the state.
"Today, that new chapter begins," Gov. Jack Markell said. "It may very well be the start of our state's economic future.
Fisker executives say the company was lured to Delaware by the size of the vacant plant, the proximity to the Port of Wilmington and a variety of tax incentives offered by state officials.
Biden, who has long enjoyed the support of the UAW, often spent time at the plant while running for office. He said he envisions a future in which the plant will return to prominence in the auto industry.
"Imagine a day when 2,000 workers are once again passing through those gates being harassed by politicians like me," Biden said. "Imagine a day when this plant, on the floor we're standing on right now, is making 100,000 plug-in, hybrid sedans, coupes and crossovers every single year. Imagine an America that has freed itself from the grip of the oligarchs of oil by plugging their cars into a new electric grid of renewable energy."
Read more about Biden's announcement in next Tuesday's issue of The Review.
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