Report: Think facing financial diffuclties; Valmet halts production of City EV

With two small recalls in recent months and a long history of financial trouble, it probably shouldn't surprise us that the Norwegian electric car company Think is in trouble again. A year after Norwegian electric automaker Think secured substantial investments, it's reportedly facing financial issues again, writes the Norwegian business newspaper, Finansavisen. Production of the electric Think has apparently been halted at Valmet Automotive in Finland and 35 employees were let go over the last couple of weeks. James Andrew of Think Europe says that, "It is true that production is temporarily halted," but claims that the stoppage is due to "imbalances in the sharing" of Valmet Automotive's production capacity. A U.S. spokesperson told AutoblogGreen (read the full statement after the jump):

We have asked Valmet to temporarily stop production in Finland, while we rebalance our parts inventory in Europe. The stoppage in Finland has had little effect on our U.S. business. We have continued to receive gliders from Finland, and are continuing to ship vehicles to customers.

The Finansavisen says that a shortage in parts for the Think City is only half the problem. The Norwegian newspaper claims that the automaker's funds are running dry. Luis Salem, Think's vice president of global marketing, responded to the paper's claims, stating, "With regard to the economic situation we are in a startup phase, and we are always looking for new financial sources." With competition in the plug-in vehicle segment heating up, 2011 sales of the Think City have reportedly reached only 60 units in Norway.

[Source: E24 Bil via Google Translate]