Report: Fisker lays off employees, halts production while renegotiating DOE loans Car News and Review

This isn’t good. The Associated Press is reporting that Fisker Automotive has stopped production of the Fisker Karma and laid off 26 Delaware employees and 40 contractors in California. The carmaker is reportedly looking to conserve cash while attempting to renegotiate loans granted by the Department of Energy.

Fisker originally signed on for a $ 529 million loan, of which only $ 193 million has been received. Fisker reportedly cannot get at the remaining funds, which are earmarked for the delayed Nina project, because the automaker failed to meet Karma sales targets that were a condition of the loan. A few days ago, Fisker lowered its sales expectations for the $ 100,000 Karma to a still very lofty 10,000 units in 2012.

Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher told the AP that the automaker is hoping for a speedy resolution to its cash crunch. We hope so too, or Fisker could be in a heap of trouble.