After Bankruptcy of A123 Systems, Fisker Keeps Calm and Carries On At the Luxury Review, an annual showcase in Chelsea for makers of big-ticket apparel, jewelry, liquor, single-origin chocolate bars and motorized conveyances, bankruptcy may be considered gauche cocktail conversation. But parked at the center of the Metropolitan Pavilion space on West 18th Street on Wednesday evening was the Fisker Karma, the $100,000 plug-in hybrid sedan, packing lithium-ion batteries supplied by the newly bankrupt A123 Systems. Executives for the start-up automaker were still absorbing the news of A123's bankruptcy, filed on Tuesday. "I learned about it when everyone else did," Richard Beattie, chief commercial officer for Fisker, said during an interview at the event. He added that he had not had contact with Johnson Controls, the Michigan-based automotive systems developer that A123 identified in its filing as the buyer of its automotive assets and factories. A123 is the sole supplier of lithium-ion batteries for the Karma, but Mr. Beattie did not anticipate any hiccups in the supply line. "Like in any bankruptcy, suddenly some contracts become null and void, but A123 is still here, and I'm not concerned about matters of supply," he said. The fates of A123 and Fisker may not be entwined, but their narratives are. They each secured loans from the Energy Department, announced blockbuster financing rounds and ran damage control after an embarrassing recall. Fisker particularly has also been a favored target for Republicans during the presidential campaign. Mitt Romney has offered it as an example of the federal government's lack of business acumen, given the automaker's failure to meet performance-based preconditions of its loan. Being a small company, Fisker lacked some of the flexibility that a major automaker would have in the event of a critical supplier's bankruptcy, Mr. Beattie said, but he, along with Alexander Klatt, vice president of global design, emphasized the company's adaptability. "We cannot at any time be focused just on one supplier," Mr. Klatt said. We have to be flexible. In the near term, Fisker is focused on restarting its midsize luxury car program, which was pushed back this week to allow the company to raise more financing. That vehicle was previewed on the eve of the New York auto show in April as the Atlantic concept. Tony Posawatz, Fisker's recently appointed chief executive, told investors in a conference call on Monday that the Atlantic would be the company's path to profitability. Mr. Klatt emphasized that the Atlantic platform was not dependent on an A123-sourced pack. "The A123 pack doesn't fit naturally in the Atlantic," he said, citing the midsize car's shorter wheelbase relative to that of the Karma. The car is already completely engineered, and we're quite focused on two or three suppliers. Soon we'll be able to move forward. Mr. Klatt declined to identify the prospective battery suppliers for the Atlantic. "Bottom line, it'll be a better powertrain solution," he said. At last year's Luxury Review, the car at the center of the room was the 700-horsepower Lamborghini Aventador. Mr. Beattie said Fisker, like Lamborghini, had a modest marketing budget and depended on events like the Luxury Review to sell the desirability of its product -- a critical message to maintain in the face of events beyond its immediate control. "All of our tactics have to be guerrilla tactics," he said. There's only so much that we can do.