The Truth About Fisker: A Luxury Automotive Nightmare

Fisker Automobile, once touted as the car that would bury Tesla, has a fascinating and tumultuous history. The company's founder, Henrik Fisker, is a Danish-born designer with a passion for creating iconic luxury vehicles.

In 1989, Fisker joined BMW, where he designed the retro-inspired BMW Z8. This reimagined roadster was praised for its sleek, timeless design, and it remains a darling among drivers and collectors alike. Fisker's success at BMW led to him joining Ford as the design director for Aston Martin in 2001. It was there that he created the designs for the iconic Aston Martin DB9 and the best-selling Aston Martin of all time, the V8 Vantage.

After nearly 20 years in the industry, Fisker decided it was time to set off on his own. He needed to pick a kind of luxury vehicle that would justify a new company. As an avid fan of celebrity, Fisker was watching the Oscars when he came across Leonardo DiCaprio driving up to the red carpet in a Toyota Prius. The Titanic star stepping out of a small, egg-shaped car didn't fit right. Where was the flash? Where was the glamour? Why not create an attractive option for high-end, environmentally conscious clientele?

Fisker decided he would make a hybrid luxury car at a premium price. In 2007, he and his business partner, Barney Koehler, formed Fisker Automotive, with the goal of putting the cool into electric cars. Building an automobile with cutting-edge technology and wrapping it in a pretty package was their vision. Before they could hunker down, however, they accepted an $875,000 contract with another start-up car company, Tesla.

Fisker's brief stint with Tesla made him feel more confident about his venture into the EV world. Having learned from the experience, Fisker and Koehler were ready to embark on their new journey. They set out to create a luxury electric vehicle that would cater to high-end clients who valued style and sustainability. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fisker's story is one of ambition, creativity, and perseverance. Despite the challenges he faced, Fisker remained committed to his vision and continued to push the boundaries of what was possible in the world of luxury automotive design. Today, Fisker Automotive remains a testament to Fisker's passion and dedication to creating unique and innovative vehicles that combine style, performance, and environmental responsibility.

However, as we will delve into the details of Fisker's story, it becomes clear that not everything went according to plan. The company faced numerous challenges, including intense competition from established players in the luxury automotive market. Despite its ambitions, Fisker Automotive struggled to find its footing and ultimately faced significant financial difficulties.

As we explore the truth about Fisker, we will examine the events that led to the company's downfall and the lessons that can be learned from its experiences. From the highs of its initial success to the lows of its eventual demise, Fisker's story is a fascinating tale of innovation, creativity, and perseverance in the face of adversity.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the events that led to Fisker's downfall and explore the lessons that can be learned from his experiences. We will examine the company's financial struggles, its marketing and sales efforts, and the challenges it faced in terms of competition and consumer acceptance. By understanding what went wrong for Fisker Automotive, we can gain valuable insights into the world of luxury automotive design and the challenges that come with creating innovative and successful products.

So, let us begin our journey into the truth about Fisker, a company that once held great promise but ultimately succumbed to the harsh realities of the automotive market.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- It won Automobile Magazine's2012 car of the year award,it garnered well over $600million dollars in start-upcapital and it was heraldedas the car that would buryTesla, but then it died.Both with a bang and a whimper.It's the most over-hyped car in the world.What turned this green dreaminto an automotive nightmare?This is Wheel House,the truth about Fisker.The Danish-born Henrik Fiskerstarted his career at BMWin 1989 where he designedthe retro-inspired BMW Z8.This reimagined roadsterwas praised for it's sleek,timeless design and it remainsa darling among driversand collectors alike.Riding his success at BMW,Fisker joined Ford as thedesign director for Aston Martin in 2001.It was there that he createdthe designs for the iconicAston Martin DB9 and thebest-selling Aston Martinof all time, the V8 Vantage.So, the guy knows athing or two about makingbad-ass looking cars.After almost 20 years inthe industry, Fisker decidedhe was done designing other people's cars.It was time to set off on his own,but the world of luxury vehicles was vastand starting a companywas extremely difficult.He needed to pick a kind of luxury vehiclethat would justify a new company.Ever the fan of celebrity,Henrik was watching the Oscarswhen it came to him,Leonardo DiCaprio drove upto the red carpet in a Toyota Prius.The Titanic star steppingout of small, egg-shaped cardidn't fit right.Where was the flash,where was the glamour?Why not create an attractiveoption for high-end,environmentally conscious clientele.Fisker decided he wouldmake a hybrid luxury carat a premium price.In 2007, he and businesspartner Barney Koehler formedFisker Automotive, with thegoal of putting the coolinto electric cars.Building an automobile withcutting edge technology,and wrap it in a pretty package.Before they hunkered down,however, they accepted a$875,000 contract with anotherstart-up car company, Tesla.After his brief stintwith them, Henrik feltmore confident about hisventure into the EV world.And having "consultant toTesla" on his resume alsomade it easier for him to get investors.Quantum Technologies, analternative energy start-upteamed with the designguru on his ambitious plansfor Fisker Automotive.They posted up in Irvine,California to design the car,but it wouldn't be built there.Henrik believed that thebest people for the job wereValmet Automotive allthe way over in Finland.- Finland!- The eco-friendly startupscored big when it was ableto get backing from heavyhitters like Ray Lane,the former president ofsoftware giant Oracle thatbankrolled such companiesas Google and Amazon.Luckily, when Henrik foundRay, he was working as asenior partner at a powerhouseventure capital firm.Jackpot! Also, the USgovernment wanted to bolstergreen initiatives as wellas the economy in the wakeof the 2008 financial crisis.So the Department ofEnergy coughed up a loanthat totaled $529 million,a portion of which wasto be used to mass producethe car in the United States.Even the Prius-loving DiCapriogot on-board as an investor.It seemed that the hybrid start-up wasdestined for greatness.A year later Fisker Automotiveunveiled a flashy, plug-inhybrid sedan they called the Fisker Karma.Henrik Fisker labeledit an "electric vehiclewith extended range" or "EVER."It operates the same way many otherplug-in hybrids do today.It had a plug-in hybriddrive chain that poweredby electricity until abattery ran out of juice,then a gasoline enginekicks in to drive the carand charge the battery.Peek under the hood andyou'd find a 260 horsepower,GM-supplied, 4-cylinder enginechurning the robust generator.The Karma was also equippedwith a 20 kilowatt an hourAmerican-made lithium ion battery pack.Mounted on the rearaxle were twin AC motorsdelivering 402 horsepowerto the differential.This up-scale driving machine couldgo zero to 60 in under 6 seconds.Not bad for a hybrid.But what really made theFisker Karma a cut abovewas it's jaw-dropping, stellar appearance.The incredible bodycurves on this car wereso smooth you'd thinkthe car gods themselvesformed it from one giantpiece of molten metal.With it's sleek, longhood, shapely flanks,eye-catching wheel arches,and it's low-slung silhouetteit's obvious the Fisker Karmawas designed by a genuineartist, and I mean that.The Karma offered the completepackage, style, sleekness,and with a battery andgasoline-powered combo,zero range anxiety.All the buzz surrounding the Karma landedit's designer on thecover of Forbes Magazine,under the headline "The Next Detroit."There was also the possibilityhe'd land in court.Tesla slapped Fiskerwith a lawsuit in 2008.Here's what they claimed:Remember how they brought Henrikon-board to do design andinterior work in 2007?They say he stole theirdesign ideas for whatwould become the Tesla Model S.Tesla further believed Fiskerand his partner acceptedthe $875,000 design contractsolely so they could gettheir hands on confidential design info.Tesla claimed Fisker had nohybrid technology experiencebefore working for them.So where do you thinkthey got all the infofor the motors and batteries?And once they saw how rad theKarma looked, they were like,"What you designed forus looks like a hot turd,what's going on?" That'swhat Elon Musk sounds like.Tesla alleged that Fiskersabotaged their designby intentionally doing shoddy work.Then, he used the money they paid himto start a competing company.As for the outcome, well,later that year Tesla droppedthe lawsuit when anarbitrator's ruling foundno wrongdoing on Fisker's part,but still kinda suspicious.This legal roadbump didn't put a damperon the excitement surrounding the Karma.Eco-minded car enthusiasts couldn't waitto get their hands on one.Al Gore put in an earlyorder, Justin Bieber got oneas a gift from Usher, Tyrese owned one,and Leonardo DiCaprio couldbe spotted cruising SunsetBoulevard in the first production model.Time Magazine put the car onit's 50 Best Inventions list.Motor Trend named it theTop 10 Future Classicsfor it's timelesselements, and it was dubbed2011's Luxury Car of theYear by Top Gear Magazine.This car was a big deal.While Henrik Fisker initiallypledged to start productionwithin 18 months of it'sunveiling in 2008, the firstproduction model wouldn'troll off the assembly lineuntil 3 years later.200 Fisker Karmas weredelivered to customers in 2011and an additiona 1600 in 2012.Unfortunately, the carshould've rolled right backinto the factory.The Karma looked great on the outside,but on the inside, it was a hot mess.The reality was that HenrikFisker was a car designer,he'd never taken thereins of a company before.The smelly stench of troublebegan with the company'sbad business model.Their method of outsourcing everythingand a low-headcountapproach resulted in a carriddled with engineering problems.Not the least of whichwas poor reliability.In 2011, Fisker Automotiveissued a recall of thefirst 239 Karmas because of a coolant leakand the risk of electrical fires.The fire part was actuallya reality for a fewunlucky Karma owners.One guy lost a wing ofhis house, when his Karmaburst into flames in the garage.That sucks. That's just liketime my uncle Russ frieda turkey on Thanksgiving, RIP Russ.Sour headlines and late loanpayments started piling up.It was reported that Henrikhad accumulated $200 milliondollars in unpaid bills by late 2011.To conserve cash, FiskerAutomotive laid off hundredsof employees in 2011 and 2012.All the while, the Armanisuit wearing Fisker continuedto take a huge salaryand spend lavishly in anattempt to maintain a shiny appearanceon the company's fastly tarnishing image.We're talking champagnewith flecks of goldin it, served on a 146-foot yachtin Monte Carlo kinda lavish.The announced stickerprice of about $80,000had risen to six-figuresby production time.The production phaseexperienced delays due tolast minute design changes,and engineering fixes.What kind of last-minutefixes? Here's just one.Apparently, Fisker's desirefor front-end exhaustmade the Karma too noisy andhurt the car's horsepower.An obvious fix would beto place the exhaust pipein the back, like everycar on the face of planet.The idea came to theengineers one afternoon whenpizza was delivered for lunch.I'm serious about this.The engineering team wasinspired by the pizza boxto encase the exhaust ina very thin steel box.The pizza box quickfix solved the concernsabout the sound andmade the boss happy, butto the tune of extra $1 million dollars.Other minor, but verynoticeable issues involved aghostly radio that increasedvolume all on it's ownand a software interface thatwas difficult to decipher.It was so slow that somedrivers cracked the screenfrom pushing too hard to get a response.Adding to the problem,the company had orderedsomewhere between 50 to100 million dollars worthof components that, becauseof last minute design changes,wouldn't even be used.Fisker was burning throughthe cash and missingcrucial productiondeadlines, so the governmentcut it's funding.Desperate to keep the moneyflowing, Henrik Fiskerbegan selling the Karma at lightning speedbefore all the problemshad been ironed out.Plagued with continuingrecalls and breakdowns,the anticipated darling of the car worldwas quickly becoming a dud.- Fiskers don't makenoise when they start up,just so you know.- The Fisker Karma mayhave been the only carin history to be named2012's Design of the Yearby Automobile Magazine whilesimultaneously flunkingwith consumer reports.The magazine cited routineproblems with the battery,long recharge times, andrepeat visits to the dealer.A noisy engine, cramped interior,and below-par performance.In fact, the car died on the test trackand had to be hauled away on a flatbed.Then, Hurricane Sandyflooded out several hundredunsold Karma's that were storedin a New Jersey parking lot.A bruising cost of about $33 million.When the insurance companyrefused to pay, Fiskerhad to go to court.Check your coverage, guys.Just five years earlier,it seemed that the starswould be aligning for the Fisker Karma,but in 2012 it felt like fatewas conspiring against us.The nail in the coffinmoment happened whenMassachusets-based A123,Fisker Automotive'ssole battery supplier folded.With technical glitches andcost overruns continuing,Fisker Automotive ceasedproduction in November 2012,a year later they wentbankrupt, but the car theydesigned lives on.Making lemonades out ofFisker's lemons, China'sauto parts giant WanxiangGroup bought the doomedcompany's assets and whatwas left of A123 in 2014.They renamed the organizationKarma Automotive,and moved the factoryoperation from Finland,to Southern California.The new Karma team set upproduction in Moreno Valleyand their game plan was toresurrect the flawed Karma,but keep Fisker's gorgeous design.As Jim Taylor, Karma Automotive'schief marketing officersaid, "They nailed the design,you'd be crazy to change it."The first order of businessfor the Karma comeback teamwas to get to work findingevery flaw with the Karma,no easy task.Leading the effort was KarlJenkins, a Welsh auto engineerconsidered the patron saintof successfully handlingturnaround and lost causes.Along with a 600 memberteam, Jenkins went sectionby section over the old Karmawith a fine-toothed combto determine what neededfixing and what was fine.They tagged any problemthey could uncover,down to the dicey-looking hose clamps.They reworked the airflowthrough the front of the carwhich was an easy fixfor an overheating enginethat the original Fiskerteam had overlookedbecause they rushed the car to market.The team also updated thecar with five years oftechnical advances, a Herculean effortthat at the end of the dayresulted in the rebirthof the Fisker Karma, nowrechristened the Karma Revero.Near identical to it's predecessor except,fingers crossed, this onewouldn't burst into flamesor leak engine coolant.The first production modelof the Karma Revero weredelivered to customers in 2017.You have to give Karma Automotive props,instead of throwing uptheir hands in frustrationat the Fisker fiasco,they went mono e monowith the beast, got their hands dirty,and fixed literally hundreds of flaws.Wanxiang rescued the car for the designs.It looks amazing and issaid to have cast a spellover some Tesla ownersas well, who have beencomplaining that their vehiclejust isn't interesting anymore.The car offers a timelessquality and mystical feelthat's as evident todayas it was six years ago.Is the Revero a phoenixrisen from the ashes?Or is the landmarkdesign destined to fail?Time will tell.Make sure you hit thatyellow subscribe buttonright there, if you likeelectric cars check outthis episode of Science Garage.The Fisker has a very similarstory to the DeLoreansso check out this episode of Up to Speed.Follow me on Instagram @nolanjsykesand follow Donut @donutmedia.If you want a shirt,go to shop.donut.media,we have some new merchcoming out very soon.Wear a seatbelt, see you next time.(chilled hip hop music)