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Fisker Automotive
Fisker Automotive was an American automobile company. It produced the Fisker Karma, which was one of the world's first production luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The company was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a Danish automobile designer.
The company received significant private and public investment, including a $529 million loan from the federal government. The company raised over $1 billion from private investors such as the Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm.
However, it repeatedly missed production deadlines, and production of the Fisker Karma was suspended in November 2012 with about 2,450 Karmas built since 2011 and just over 2,000 cars sold worldwide. The New York Times described the company as the "Solyndra of the electric car industry" and a "debacle". The company's federal loan was suspended in 2011; the government recovered some of the invested funds, but nevertheless took a $139 million loss.
In February 2014, Fisker Automotive's Karma vehicle design, tooling, and a manufacturing facility in Delaware were purchased by Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group. In 2016, Wanxiang renamed the holding company for the assets of Fisker Automotive to Karma Automotive.
Henrik Fisker co-founded Fisker Automotive in 2007 with Fisker Coachbuild partner Bernhard Koehler and Quantum Technologies after securing U$5.2 million investment from Gianfranco Pizzuto, an Italian businessman, and Palo Alto Investors. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm, was one of the early investors. Fisker was involved in the design of many premium cars such as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, Artega GT, and BMW Z8. He also served as design director and sat on the board at Aston Martin.
Before Fisker Automotive, Fisker and Koehler left Aston Martin in 2005 to establish Fisker Coachbuild, in an attempt to revive the art of coach-building automobiles to customer specifications. The Fisker Tramonto and Latigo used chassis and power trains from Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6 Series automobiles. Several were purchased, but the business soon gave way to Fisker Automotive, a true automobile manufacturer.
In 2009, Fisker mentioned plans for another plug-in hybrid, a "high-volume vehicle for a lower price", subject to getting a U.S. Department of Energy loan to build about 100,000 vehicles annually in the United States.
On April 14, 2008, Tesla Motors filed a lawsuit against Fisker Automotive, alleging they stole Tesla's technology and were using it to develop their own hybrid car, the Fisker Karma, which was announced at the North American International Auto Show in January 2008. Tesla's suit claimed that the design work done for the Model S by Fisker Coachbuild was substandard, and that Fisker diverted its best ideas to the Karma. In early 2009, the suit was settled in Fisker's favor and Tesla was ordered to pay Fisker more than US$1.1 million in legal fees.
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Fisker Automotive
Fisker Automotive was an American automobile company. It produced the Fisker Karma, which was one of the world's first production luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The company was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a Danish automobile designer.
The company received significant private and public investment, including a $529 million loan from the federal government. The company raised over $1 billion from private investors such as the Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm.
However, it repeatedly missed production deadlines, and production of the Fisker Karma was suspended in November 2012 with about 2,450 Karmas built since 2011 and just over 2,000 cars sold worldwide. The New York Times described the company as the "Solyndra of the electric car industry" and a "debacle". The company's federal loan was suspended in 2011; the government recovered some of the invested funds, but nevertheless took a $139 million loss.
In February 2014, Fisker Automotive's Karma vehicle design, tooling, and a manufacturing facility in Delaware were purchased by Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group. In 2016, Wanxiang renamed the holding company for the assets of Fisker Automotive to Karma Automotive.
Henrik Fisker co-founded Fisker Automotive in 2007 with Fisker Coachbuild partner Bernhard Koehler and Quantum Technologies after securing U$5.2 million investment from Gianfranco Pizzuto, an Italian businessman, and Palo Alto Investors. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm, was one of the early investors. Fisker was involved in the design of many premium cars such as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, Artega GT, and BMW Z8. He also served as design director and sat on the board at Aston Martin.
Before Fisker Automotive, Fisker and Koehler left Aston Martin in 2005 to establish Fisker Coachbuild, in an attempt to revive the art of coach-building automobiles to customer specifications. The Fisker Tramonto and Latigo used chassis and power trains from Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6 Series automobiles. Several were purchased, but the business soon gave way to Fisker Automotive, a true automobile manufacturer.
In 2009, Fisker mentioned plans for another plug-in hybrid, a "high-volume vehicle for a lower price", subject to getting a U.S. Department of Energy loan to build about 100,000 vehicles annually in the United States.
On April 14, 2008, Tesla Motors filed a lawsuit against Fisker Automotive, alleging they stole Tesla's technology and were using it to develop their own hybrid car, the Fisker Karma, which was announced at the North American International Auto Show in January 2008. Tesla's suit claimed that the design work done for the Model S by Fisker Coachbuild was substandard, and that Fisker diverted its best ideas to the Karma. In early 2009, the suit was settled in Fisker's favor and Tesla was ordered to pay Fisker more than US$1.1 million in legal fees.