E' la quarta volta che crollano finanziariamente in 20anni (se ne facessero una ragione..)

Vendute appena 1043 mincar nel 2010

Tiny electric car maker Think Global AS filed for bankruptcy Wednesday in its home market of Norway after attempts to keep the company going through recapitalization and restructuring failed, the company said in a statement. It is the fourth time Think has collapsed financially in its 20-year history.

“We needed some additional funding and although we had interested investors they were not able to come to table quickly enough,” Think spokesman James Andrews told Automotive News Europe.

He declined to say how much cash Think sought to remain operating, but industry sources say the company would have needed multiple millions to keep going.

The options for Think are either a liquidation of its assets or the sale of the company to a new investor, Andrews said.

Production stop

European production of the carmaker’s lone model, the City minicar, stopped in March. At the time, the company said it halted the production line at contract manufacturer and Think investor Valmet Automotive’s factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland, to rebalance its inventory.

Think sold just 1,043 units of the City in 2010.

A court-appointed trustee from Oslo-based commercial law firm Thommessen took control of the company Wednesday afternoon, Andrews said. The trustee has responsibility for managing the company’s assets, including wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Think North America, which has an EV production plant in Elkhart, Indiana.

Although Think North America is a separate entity, its future also is in doubt because it is financially supported by headquarters in Norway.

In 2008, the global financial downturn nearly killed Think, but the company found new investors and restated production in late 2009. Think was owned by Ford Motor Co. from mid-1999 until January 2003 and has struggled since the U.S. firm's departure.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110622/ANE/110629949/1193#ixzz1Q2MMyVjG

anche perchè è sempre uguale o quasi ad anni fa almeno avessero provato a renderla più piacevole per incoraggiare la vendita