Beautiful but fatally flawed, Fisker Automotive’s Karma hybrid sedan was an early example of a next-gen car startup biting off more substantially than it could chew. After it ran out of money, Fisker parted ways with its namesake founder — well-known designer Henrik Fisker — and sold off its assets to a Chinese auto parts company. Now, it’s getting ready to come back.
The failed Fisker Karma will be reintroduced as the Karma Revero later this year
Production has been moved to California, too
Production has been moved to California, too
Rachel Murray/Getty Images
WSJ reports that Fisker (which is now named Karma, to complete the divorce from Henrik Fisker himself) will launch an updated version of the car called the Karma Revero. In an effort to make the car actually work this time, Karma has a deal with BMW to supply drivetrain components, and is moving manufacturing from Finland’s Valmet Automotive to a new facility in Southern California near company headquarters.
Pretty much everything Henrik Fisker has ever designed, going back to his BMW and Aston Martin days, has been gorgeous — but despite the looks, the Karma was too unreliable to wage a serious fight against other big, six-figure sedans like the Tesla Model S and BMW 7-Series. After a brief production run that only yielded around 2,000 examples, the car went out of production in 2012, marking a four-year gap between the last Karma and the first Revero.
The official Revero unveil is expected this summer.
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