FISKER BUYS SOLSTICE PLANT FROM GM

Fisker Automotive has announced plans to buy GM's redundant Pontiac Solstice plant in Wilmington, Delaware - the same plant that was being mooted to produce a new DeLorean.

The plant will now be used to develop Fisker's plug-in hybrid family saloon 'Project NINA', and was bought using part of a $528.7m USD loan from the US government.

The factory is currently still tooled up for producing the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky, but the purchase by Fisker presumably nails the coffin lid down on DMC's plans to revive the DeLorean name - which though improbable, did get as far as an intriguing rendering of a Solstice-based new model.

The deal also has implications for Chevrolet Volt, which Project NINA is designed to rival in the emerging plug-in hybrid sector. There is a certain irony in the sale of a GM factory to a private company planning to use it to develop a direct rival to one of GM's key future products - but hey, that's liquidation for you.