The tragic milestones are passing one by one for Fisker Automotive, and we fear that the end may be near. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fisker had hired restructuring lawyers to help it prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing. Now the company has laid off most of its remaining employees – GigaOm reports that 160 employees were let go, leaving just 53.

Hopes that a new investor might save the company faded when two Chinese companies, Dongfeng and Geely, backed off, citing fears that satisfying the terms of Fisker’s DOE loan would be too complicated and costly.

Fisker faces an April 22 deadline for the next payment on its DOE loan, but the company has little income, having shut down its production line when battery supplier A123 went belly-up.

Meanwhile, Fisker has settled a lawsuit with A123, which has recently been renamed B456 (that’s sure to turn things around). Fisker had sued the bankrupt battery maker for breach of warranty in connection with the bogus batteries that contributed to Fisker’s fall. Under the settlement, Fisker reduced its claims by 89 percent to $15 million, Bloomberg reported.

Sources: WSJ, GigaOm, Bloomberg, Green Car Reports