Fisker's Karma To Be Re-Launched By Mid 2015 - Shooting Brake To Follow In 2016

A plan for Fisker Automotive Inc. is solidifying that would put the company’s gas-electric hybrid Karma luxury automobile back on the road in mid-2015, according to its newly appointed interim president.

The hope is that the newly launched car, backed by the deep pockets of Chinese auto-parts company Wanxiang, will be free of the bugs that drove Fisker into bankruptcy last year.

A second, station-wagon-like version of the $100,000-plus Karma, called the Surf, could ship in 2016. And a lower-cost vehicle, the Atlantic, might come in 2017, Fisker President Roger Brown said in an interview.

“We don’t know if we would keep Fisker Automotive as the company (name),” said Brown, a managing partner at Nashville, Tenn.-based Summit Strategic Investments who has worked with Wanxiang for years. “The cars are the rock stars.”

TheSteve - 4/23/2014 1:10:02 PM

+2 Boost

Car companies usually fail because they're managed badly, or because few people want their products. I'm betting Fisker's problem can be attributed a fair bit to the second cause.

MattDarringer - 4/23/2014 9:07:13 PM

+1 Boost

Having seen one in person...gaudy, vulgar, tasteless.

Dexter1 - 4/24/2014 12:19:52 PM

+1 Boost

Front still looks like Jack Nicholson playing "The Joker" in Batman.

mre30 - 4/23/2014 4:22:52 PM

+2 Boost

Its basically obsolete already...look at the ones on EBAY..they look like they were designed 8 yrs ago. There is no room in the interior, there is no luggage space...a Fisker Karma is version 0.1..and a Tesla Model S is like version 8.8 in comparison.

No one is going to care. Shooting brake / station wagon is fugly too...no one is going to care about that either.

MattDarringer - 4/23/2014 9:08:16 PM

+1 Boost

The values of this poorly designed/engineered vehicles have plummeted. Owners are awash in glitches.

MattDarringer - 4/23/2014 9:06:45 PM

+1 Boost

Great! It was a quality nightmare before and I'm so glad to see this crapstorm back in production!

TheSteve - 4/23/2014 11:29:08 PM

+1 Boost

I guess it would be accurate to say Fisker has always suffered from Bad Karma.

MattDarringer - 4/24/2014 8:45:12 PM

+1 Boost

Google Liz Carmichael and Dale...that is the story of Fisker

aussie2u - 4/24/2014 10:04:01 PM

+1 Boost

Keep in mind that the Fisker had defective batteries made by AONE that had to be recalled, which caused AONE to go bankrupt too. It's all just bad Karma so the name needs to go.