With stringent taxes penalizing big internal combustion luxury sedans in the country of Holland, Fisker Automotive’s extended-range electric Karma has managed a second-place sales spot in that segment for the first quarter of this year.
How many cars did it take to edge out the BMW 7-series, Mercedes S-class and Audi A8 while being beaten only by the Porsche Panamera in the Dutch market from January through April? Just 88 units, but this may be the first time that an ultra-low emission hybrid car has outsold combustion engine rivals in such a convincing fashion.
That said, Fisker Communications Director Roger Ormisher acknowledged it is only a qualified victory since the car was launched late last year. More significantly, he said, successes Fisker has begun to see in Europe are a portent of things to come in a legislative and social climate that is becoming increasingly friendly for Fisker’s kind of car.
Initial reports have been uncertain, more needs to be determined, but the chief fire investigator in Fort Bend, Texas has let fly the statement that a Fisker Karma was the source of a house fire there.
“Yes, the Karma was the origin of the fire," said Chief Robert Baker to Autoweek about the incident that took place last week, "but what exactly caused that we don't know at this time.”
Yesterday Fisker announced it recently added a First Prize in the International Design Award (IDA) competition to its growing list of awards, plus a silver trophy for innovation by the Edison Awards.
The IDA covers a host of design subjects including architecture, interior, products, fashion, graphics, but as you might expect, Fisker’s Karma qualified as a product, specifically one for transportation.
The Department of Energy hired an outside restructuring adviser last year to monitor Fisker Automotive's financing efforts, according to a Bloomberg report.
Fisker Automotive announced yesterday a significant expansion in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).
The California-based maker of the Karma and pending Atlantic signed an exclusive agreement with the Al-Futtaim Group, one of the region’s most experienced automotive distributors, to handle sales operations in these markets.
Fisker Automotive recently closed on $392 million in private financing which is over twice what it had set out to achieve, and it now says it hopes to see this figure top half a billion.
A company spokesman was quoted by the Wall Street Journal this week as saying it first sought to raise $150 million, but filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show this was well exceeded.
Not long ago, Fisker Automotive took a public relations hit when a Karma battery failed during a Consumer Reports test, but its battery maker A123 Systems has now accepted responsibility and will replace all affected Karma packs at a cost of about $55 million. In a press release today, Fisker said it has been working closely with A123 Systems regarding the power loss experienced by Consumer Reports. The problem was traced to the A123 battery pack and both companies immediately established teams to work together to find the root cause.
As it puts public relations setbacks behind it, Fisker Automotive is reportedly negotiating an additional $100 million in private funding and is on its way toward $1 billion in private equity raised to date.
According to a U.S. regulatory filing, the California-based automaker has secured $896 million as of Feb. 10, and Bloomberg reports that current talks for the sizable additional chunk are in progress, thus sources declined to be identified.
Following February reports that the U.S. Department of Energy froze Fisker’s $529 million low-interest loans because it did not meet a Karma production deadline, Fisker said it had options aside from taxpayer money, and it would seem this is so.
Last week Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher called to follow-up, and I asked when we’d get to see the pending 2013 Nina variants. He said “that's a good question,” and that he’d have news soon.
And sure enough, Fisker said yesterday that it will reveal its long-anticipated extended-range EV platform April 3 at the New York Auto Show. We are unsure whether all three versions known to exist will be shown, or Fisker will highlight more details of a first iteration, then, as it has with the Karma, reveal other siblings at later dates.
The email we got was brief with a two-dimensional sketch, but it has previously been said these cars are quite eye-catching, and given Henrik Fisker’s past achievements, this would almost be expected.
That said, Fisker has caught a fair degree of public relations heat in light of minor Karma recalls, lower than projected EPA numbers, and price increases, among other complaints.
There has been a lot said on the Internet about technical issues with the Fisker Karma, including a recall for a battery problem and software upgrades.
The latest has to do with a Karma bought by Consumer Reports that broke down before the magazine could even start its regular testing procedure. The issue, as explained here, was fixed within 48 hours.
Consumer Reports stated: “A ‘fault was found in the battery and inverter cable. Both were replaced as a unit.’ In other words, we now have a brand-new lithium-ion drive battery pack provided under warranty, though likely costing as much as a small, fuel-efficient car.”
In the wake of this PR nightmare for Fisker, a former employee was quoted under the cover of anonymity stating that the Karma was “rushed to market before it was market-ready in order to try to meet government milestones for a loan.”
Not long ago Fisker caught a lot of media heat for accepting a $529 million federal loan, but the company’s latest “bump in the road” is that it has only received $193 million of it, and the rest has now been frozen.
The remainder of the U.S. Department of Energy money was contingent upon Fisker producing a certain number of Karmas by an agreed-upon deadline, but other delays and recalls have slowed their proliferation considerably.
Because of the DOE's funding freeze, Fisker has laid off 26 workers at its former GM plant in Delaware, but not before it completed "Phase One" of an approximately $175 million rehabilitation there.
Fisker has also laid off 40 employees from its Anaheim, Calif. headquarters, citing a flexible staffing arrangement which is not out of the norm for the auto industry – and most importantly – it is renegotiating terms with DOE officials so it can get its funding turned back on.
Fisker Automotive has again halted sales of its plug-in Karma and recalled those out on the road in order to fix a software glitch that has caused random check-engine lights and erratic navigation and entertainment system issues.
Last year ended on a mixed note for Fisker Automotive. While the company's first creation, the Fisker Karma, won several awards for its ground-breaking technology and styling, it was forced to recall the first 239 delivered units of the car due to fire concerns last month.
On Wednesday, Automobile magazine named the Karma its “Design of the Year” for 2012, calling it “a beautiful and highly dramatic automobile, unlike anything else on the road today.”
The Fisker Karma, Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius Plug-in all run on both gas and battery power, but there are key distinctions, stemming mostly from the differences between PHEVs and REEVs.
The company behind the bold and beautiful $87,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid has a credibility challenge. The sleek vision of a four-door sports car combining 400 horsepower and 100-mpg fuel economy is alluring. Yet, the company has failed to deliver on scheduled production dates, and has not allowed journalists to drive the car or delve into details. With the next announced launch date scheduled in a few months, Fisker’s marketing plan starts to look like a tease. Fisker’s new red-hot sexy television commercial does little to change that perception.
One of the most exciting new developments in the auto industry is the emergence of small start-ups with big visions for electric-drive cars. But the ability for these companies—like Tesla, Fisker, Coda, Think and Aptera—to fulfill their vast promise is dependent on their ability to deliver cars on a promised schedule.
Next week, Fisker will kick off a whistle-stop North American tour of the Fisker Karma $87,000 plug-in hybrid sports car. Unlike the electric-drive competition, Fisker is hitting uncharted EV markets, such as Plano, Tex., Huntsville, Ala., Neena, Wis., and Centerville, Utah. "Our market research shows Karma buyers represent all walks of life, and transcend traditional demographic profiles," Marti Eulberg, Fisker vice-president, global sales and marketing, told HybridCars.com.
Like a sculptor who refuses to unveil his masterwork until his creation is complete, Henrik Fisker has kept his gorgeous $87,900 four-door plug-in hybrid under wraps. Yes, Fisker Automotive has shown off numerous variations of the Fisker Karma at major auto shows in the past few years. But a vehicle is not a stationary object d’art. It must be driven to be understood and appreciated, and so far, Fisker is not letting anybody outside the company take a ride.
Last week, the federal government’s hydrogen wing issued a report concluding that plug-in hybrids will not produce significant savings of either greenhouse gas emission or fuel consumption for at least another two decades. With the report, they punched back against government supporters of plug-in hybrids. But did they hit below the belt with bad research?
As the Bard might have put it, “That which we call an all-electric emissions-free vehicle, by any other name would drive as sweet.” To gain mainstream acceptance by mainstream car buyers, electric cars will face all kinds of real economic and technical challenges—such as limited driving range, hefty price premiums, and lack of charging stations. But a car company’s first task in marketing an electric car or plug-in hybrid is coming up with a name that gives a sense of a bold new step in automotive technology, yet one that is not too strange or off-putting.
Vice President Joe Biden will announce tomorrow that Fisker Automotive will build plug-in hybrid cars at a Delaware plant formerly run by General Motors. The use of the GM plant by Fisker, an unproven California-based start-up, is an ironic symbol of the new era of competition for next-generation green cars—pitting small innovative companies against the world’s largest carmakers.
According to Fox News, the US Department of Energy threw away nearly $1 billion in loans to Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors—two Calif.-based auto startups trying to produce the next generation of American-made energy-efficient cars. On several of its shows, including America's Newsroom and Your World, Fox News criticized the loans because Fisker and Tesla currently produce expensive cars that are made in Europe.
After years of complaints from blind pedestrians that ultra-quiet hybrid cars pose a safety threat, the auto industry is responding by producing on-board devices that emit sounds, such as jet engines, boings, or human voice saying, “Excuse me.” One day, electric car and hybrid drivers might download “vroomtones” for their cars, the way they download ringtones for cell phones today.
Fisker Automotive will make a $39,000 plug-in hybrid, according to a report on Earth2Tech.com. Ray Lane, managing partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, which invested in Fisker, said the start-up carmaker will make an official announcement in the next week or two.
.jpg "Fisker Tries To Create Distance from Tesla")
It’s not surprising that Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors—two California-based makers of high-end electric-drive sports cars—are viewed as similar companies. Fisker makes an $87,000 plug-in hybrid and Tesla produces a $109,000 all-electric roadster. But Henrik Fisker, founder of the Southern California-based company that bears his name, was in Northern California where Tesla is based, to explain how and why the two companies are different.
Design and technology development are underway for a new sporty plug-in hybrid sedan designer by Henrik Fisker. Fisker, a legendary designer responsible for some of the most beautiful yet fuel-thirsty high-end automobiles in the world, joins other in the race to produce a luxury super-green sports car—albeit in very small quantities and at a very high sticker price.
