Lightyear’s subsidiary, Atlas Technologies BV, was declared bankrupt on Thursday morning. There is a good chance that employees will soon be out on the street. Lightyear announced this on Thursday afternoon.
The company decided to stop production of the first solar car, Lightyear 0, on Monday morning and applied for a deferment of payment. Lightyear has transferred almost all employees to the subsidiary. It involves a total of six hundred employees. “The curator will examine the consequences for the employees in the near future,” a Lightyear spokesperson said.
The production of the exclusive Lightyear 0 started more than two months ago with a lot of festivities in the Finnish car factory of Valmet Automotive. So far, ten copies of the expensive solar car have rolled off the production line. It is unclear what will happen with that. The sporty car had a price tag of 250,000 euros.
Lightyear is also working on an ‘affordable’ solar car of 40,000 euros. This car should be on the market in 2025. It is unclear what the consequences are for the development of this specimen.
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