Think Nordic's main shareholder, Kamkorp Microelectronics, has agreed to inject additional capital into the troubled company. That allowed Think Nordic's board of directors to approve a new financing plan that will enable continued operations. No details of the financing were revealed, however, nor would company officials guarantee that Think Nordic's troubles were over. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv has reported that the company needs NOK 50 million-100 million.
The 42 workers still employed at Think Nordic haven't been paid since October, and another crisis loomed when the company wasn't able to meet its financial obligations. Think Nordic has attracted wide publicity over the years, mostly after it developed an electric car that proved popular both in and out of Norway.
The company was taken over by Ford Motor Co, but Ford later backed out and threatened to shut down the plant. That opened the door for the Swiss-British firm Kamkorp to take over, but Kamkorp saw no economy of scale in the market for electric cars for the consumer market. Kamkorp lately has been focusing on its so-called "Think Public" model, an electric vehicle aimed at functioning in the public car pool market.
A statement from Think Nordic said Kamkorp was "impressed" over the progress made in developing the Think Public, calling it an "innovative and environmentally friendly product" that could become an "exciting part of Norway's industrial environmental profile."
