History
Henrik Fisker co-founded Fisker Automotive in 2007 with Fisker Coachbuild partner Bernhard Koehler and Quantum Technologies after securing U$5.2 million investment from Gianfranco Pizzuto, an Italian businessman, and Palo Alto Investors. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm, was one of the early investors.[11] Fisker was involved in the design of many premium cars such as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, Artega GT, and BMW Z8. He also served as design director and sat on the board at Aston Martin.[14] Before Fisker Automotive, Fisker and Koehler left Aston Martin in 2005 to establish Fisker Coachbuild, in an attempt to revive the art of coach-building automobiles to customer specifications.[15] The Fisker Tramonto and Latigo used chassis and power trains from Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6 Series automobiles. Several were purchased, but the business soon gave way to Fisker Automotive, a true automobile manufacturer.
In 2009, Fisker mentioned plans for another plug-in hybrid, a "high-volume vehicle for a lower price", subject to getting a U.S. Department of Energy loan[16] to build about 100,000 vehicles annually in the United States.[17]
On April 14, 2008, Tesla Motors filed a lawsuit against Fisker Automotive, alleging they stole Tesla's technology and were using it to develop their own hybrid car, the Fisker Karma, which was announced at the North American International Auto Show in January 2008. Tesla's suit claimed that the design work done for the Model S by Fisker Coachbuild was substandard, and that Fisker diverted its best ideas to the Karma.[18] In early 2009, the suit was settled in Fisker's favor and Tesla was ordered to pay Fisker more than US$1.1 million in legal fees.[19] [20]
Fisker's problems started with a recall of its battery by supplier A123 systems in December 2011, followed by a second recall in March 2012, and eventually A123 Systems' bankruptcy in August 2012. In addition to production stopping for over five months, with no date announced to recommence, the planned production of the second model, the Fisker Atlantic, was postponed, together with the cessation of development of the new model.
In February 2012, Tom LaSorda was named the new CEO,[21] and Henrik Fisker became executive chairman,[22] but six months later on August 14, La Sorda was replaced by Tony Posawatz, previously General Motors Vehicle Line Director for the Chevrolet Volt.[23]
The company suffered a setback on October 29, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy flooded and destroyed its entire European shipment of 338 Karmas at Port Newark, New Jersey.[24] Sixteen of the cars burned, because six to eight feet of seawater caused a short circuit in a vehicle control unit in one Karma, and high winds spread the resulting fire to 15 others.[25] The company said that its lithium-ion battery was not at fault.[25] Insurer XL Insurance America initially denied the roughly US$30 million loss claim and was subsequently sued by Fisker in New York State Supreme Court. The case was settled with an undisclosed out-of-court agreement.[26]
Henrik Fisker resigned in March 2013,[27] after "disagreements with management", in particular "disagreements over business strategy".[28] Shortly after the departure of Henrik Fisker from Fisker Automotive, on April 5, 2013, Fisker laid off 75% of its workforce, retaining only a core group of 40 workers as it continued to negotiate with prospective investors.[29][30]
On October 11, 2013, Hybrid Technology LLC agreed to buy Fisker's defaulted government loan at a heavy discount. On November 22, 2013, Fisker filed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Concurrently, on November 23, 2013, Fisker agreed, subject to bankruptcy court approval, to be acquired by Hybrid, owned by Hong Kong billionaire, Richard Li.[31][32] At the last moment, though, Chinese parts supplier Wanxiang Group submitted a competing bid of US$24.75 million, supported by the Official Creditors' Committee in the case. Wanxiang had earlier lost out to Hybrid in bidding for purchase of the government's loan to Fisker. Wanxiang owns A123 Systems LLC, Fisker's former battery supplier, and Fisker argued that Wanxiang's conduct was partly responsible for Fisker's business failure. As part of its bid, Wanxiang proposed restarting production of the Karma.[33]
Wanxiang received court approval on February 18, 2014, to buy the assets of Fisker after a three-day auction against Hybrid with a bid of $149.2 million, with bidding starting at $55 million, significantly more than the previous $24.75 million bid, and significantly higher than the $25 million Hybrid Technology LLC paid the Department of Energy for a $164 million loan note.[34] On top of the $25 million, the DOE also recouped $28 million from Fisker for a total of $53 million recovered of its $192 million loan.[35]
Following Fisker Automotive's structured bankruptcy auction in February 2014, Henrik Fisker retained the Fisker logo and trademarks. Wanxiang Group then transformed the assets of Fisker Automotive into a new company named Karma Automotive, thus launching the Karma Revero plug-in hybrid car based on the Fisker Karma. Henrik Fisker would later start another electric vehicle company named Fisker Inc. in 2016 with the Fisker logo and trademarks.[36]
