Fisker Automotive reborn as Elux; Karma launch delayed, report says
聽to failed聽聽startup Fisker Automotive in early 2014, China鈥檚 Wanxiang was confident production of Fisker鈥檚 only model, the extended-range electric sedan known as the Karma, would be relaunched by as early as 2015. That isn鈥檛 likely to happen, according to a new report out this week.
, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reports that the Karma now isn鈥檛 likely to be relaunched until mid-2016 and that it will be sold under a new brand called Elux. Production of the Karma is also likely to be moved from the car鈥檚 previous聽in Finland (production was outsourced to independent manufacturer Valmet) but a new location is yet to be decided.
The sources also revealed that Wanxiang will likely reprice its Karma to around $135,000, which is about 20 percent higher than the final price the聽聽had when it was last sold. There are likely to be some other significant changes, particularly in the area of battery technology as the Karma鈥檚 original battery from A123 Systems, also purchased by Wanxiang after bankruptcy, proved problematic. Battery technology has also improved since the time of the Karma鈥檚 development.
It emerged last year that Wanxiang聽聽to the Fisker brand name and logo, as those weren鈥檛 owned by Fisker聽聽but Fisker Coachbuild, an earlier company started by Fisker co-founder and namesake Henrik Fisker. This could be why Wanxiang will allegedly sell the Karma under the Elux brand, though it could also be that the new owner wants to dissociate the Karma from any negativity surrounding the Fisker name.
At the same time, auto industry veteran Bob Lutz still has plans to proceed with building V-8-powered Karmas that last we heard will be聽听耻苍诲别谤听.
Stay tuned for an update.
