Fuelmaker goes bankrupt, Honda to blame?

Fuelmaker, the company that creates the PHILL compressed natural gas filling stations for residential and commercial use, has just been driven into involuntary bankruptcy. You may recall that Fuelmaker is owned by Honda, which had been in negotiations last year to sell the company to a number of different suitors, most notably to T. Boone Pickens' Clean Energy Fuels. None of those negotiations resulted in a sale.
Fuelmaker's bankruptcy leaves a number of questions as to how companies relying on PHILL fueling units will get their products serviced, and it also casts doubts on the future of CNG vehicles for private residential use. Fuelmaker president John Lyon has hopes that another suitor will "see this as an opportunity and come to the rescue."

We're not ready to count ourselves among those that believe the automaker has ulterior motives in closing up shop at Fuelmaker. For an alternative take from the Edwin Black, click here.

[Source: The Auto Channel / Edwin Black]