The new Karma will be called the 2015 model and according to the interim president, it would help the company from filing bankruptcy, being also backed by the Chinese auto-parts company Wanxiang.

Roger Brown, president at Fisker said in an interview that the 2015 Karma model will be built exclusively for the US roads, and that the Wanxiang didn’t buy the company “to export the technology to China.”

“They bought it because they want to build a great car company,” Brown also continues stating.

More than that, the company`s plans are even bigger, since they aim to produce more models, after the 2015 Fisker Karma will have entered the company`s dealerships in the US.

Thus, we might be talking about a station wagon that would be named Surf, supposing to hit the US dealerships somewhere in 2016, along with a lower model named the Atlantic, which would cost less than the $100,000 price put on the Karma model.

The post Fisker Expected with 2015 Karma Model in the US appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

Now it seems that fate of the car manufacturer remains undecided, and engineers, along with the chiefs from VL, are moving forward to plan the building of a V-8 Karma hot rod named the Destino.

In collaboration with the giant Katzkin, VL is just about to unveil a Destino convertible at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle will have the same styling as the Karma Sunset convertible concept, first debuting in 2009.

The Destino convertible follows the footsteps of its original Destino sedan, first revealed at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, coming with a supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 V-8, from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

The VL Destino Convertible will likely sports the same supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 V-8, or the supercharged 6.2-liter LSA from the Camaro ZL1, coming with a six-speed automatic transmission.

As for the price of the Destino Convertible, the supercar is expected to cost around $200,000, twice the price of a Karma stock version, with a post-title conversion of about $100,000.

The post VL Destino Convertible Unveiled at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

BAIC – which, as you may already know is the Chinese Beijing Automotive Group, turned its eyes to the American units and they are apparently having big plans for Fisker Automotive.

In an attempt of taking control over the Chinese electrical vehicles’ market, BAIC hopes to take the first place thanks to Fisker Automotive, among some other models.

The information surfaced the media soon after BAIC officials went into a visit to Fisker Automotive headquarters, if we can still call them like that.

While the Americans are interested in bringing Fisker back to life, for whatever reasons, it may not be that easy. At the end of last year, Fisker Automotive was said to discuss a potential alliance with three car markers.

Nevertheless, none of them was finalized, and the company shut down production one month later. We still do not know why Fisker Automotive could not find a partner and neither what offer could BAIC make for the moment.

The post Fisker Automotive allegedly enter Chinese Auto Maker BAIC’s portfolio appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

As you probably know, Fisker faces a quite bad situation as the production came to halt last year due to financial issues. However, for anyone owning the American model, Ultimate Aero’s new kit comes handy.

At the exterior, customers will get a new set of 24-inch alloy wheels which match the exterior color. Speaking of exterior finish, Ultimate Aero provides a matte white color, new trim, smoked optical blocks and few other minor tweaks.

Few months ago, the Fisker Karma received one of its first packages, developed by the specialists at CEC.

It is true that a model built in a quite limited series won’t get too much attention from tuners but nevertheless, these tuning kits are surely not useless.

The post Ultimate Auto restyles the Fisker Karma appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

I actually believed hoped, that that single man could motivate enough people around him to make things work.

This has not happened. In fact, it seems that every other week we hear something about the sort of problems Fisker is burdened with.

We’re looking at a new one this time that was uncovered by accident. You see, another similar story of individuality has Fisker Karma models converted to something more conventional.

Bob Lutz is making V8 powered cars and since he’s removing the batteries from the base cars it uses he could send them back to the factory.

The response of the company was that there’s no need for this, despite the battery supplier being currently bankrupt.

Fisker hasn’t made a new car in quite some time and quite a lot of their eco-supercars have been lost to hurricane Sandy yet that doesn’t seem to bother them.

The company claims it still has plenty of vehicles on stock so that the new customers won’t really have any need for such a collaboration.

That’s quite surprising given how in the summer of last year Henrik Fisker actually said they produced 1900 units of the Karma by then.

Sales and profits have been so poor that by this time Fisker is looking for money and investors from China. On top of the plenty of federal loans and such they have to pay back, the accountants will have a lot of work in their future.

The post Fisker’s Karma still not success intended to be appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

Fisker and their Karma have been the most recent example of reality. As many as the problems have been so far, they’re about to get even worse as production is reduced.

A123, the battery manufacturer and supplier for all things Fisker, is currently struggling with bankruptcy. Naturally, under such conditions deliveries become a less important problem.

The company’s financial problems have been known for quite a few years but it was only at the Los Angeles Auto Show that we got wind of how badly the situation eroded them.

Tony Posawatz, Fisker’s recently appointed CEO, was the one who broke the news to us. He’s cited as saying that A123’s Michigan factory has stopped making lithium-ion batteries they need.

Since no new Fisker Karma batteries are being delivered, production of any new EV with range extenders is not possible.

Instead, all curent stocks of the batteries that were earmarked for production will be kept for eventual replacements on already sold vehicles.

No real light can be spotted at the end of the tunnel for A123 at the moment. So far, the best they’ve got is an approval from the Chinese government for one of the interested investors.

That could bring over the desired change of ownership and the revival of the factories but until the papers are signed you can never be sure.

Meanwhile Fisker are not only struggling with the Karma production but the creation of the Atlantic as well since a government loan they were granted was frozen.

The post Fisker Karma production in trouble because of supplier appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

The worry of most automotive fans was in the way the cars dealers would have on their stock survived. There were quite a few that didn’t.

Among the most popular choice we found the Fisker Karma. A set of 16 beautiful electrically operated vehicles caught fire after the weather event.

Critics of the Karma loved the opportunity and they jumped at the chance to once again talk down on the upcoming model and brand.

No matter how hardcore a fan you are, stuff like this is pretty difficult to rationalize or defend against.

Today however, the company is providing us with an explanation for why the small fleet of range extended hybrids caught fire.

During the natural disaster, a pretty potent mix of wind and water lead to substantial flooding. The floods have created an opportunity for salty water to create a short circuit.

Unless you’d park your car in the sea, the Fisker Karma isn’t problematic when it comes to talking about this stuff.

Unfortunately, the short circuit did happen and a fire did come up as a result. Not a pretty sight and quite a potential problem.

Given the catalyst of the high winds that a hurricane brings along that single fire quickly spread to the 16 models that were involved.

It all seems to fall into place and I wouldn’t worry if I were one of the owners of the vehicle. Not a pretty story to hear about though.

The post Fisker Karma fires after hurricane Sandy explained appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

Fisker isn’t exactly a major manufacturer and they do make a car that’s very difficult to tune up, so why would they want to attend SEMA in these conditions?

The simple answer is because they want to grab some extra attention. In typical “girl acting on facebook” style, Fisker is bringing its Karma nearly untouched.

They did dress up their range extended four seater electric vehicle by re-skinning a bunch of its versions in some of the traditional racing colors of the US.

Customizing company 3M was involved and they didn’t even have to paint the exterior of the Karma, just wrap it in a custom foil and covered in Diamond Protection Film.

The latter is actually quite the important product for 3M as well as for the customizing industry since it’s essentially a clear coat one could use for traditional foil wraps.

This would make the already very popular and strong wrap even more resilient to outside conditions and, at the same time, enhance the overall look by allowing for more reflection.

In theory, this package makes the Fisker Karma look even better, for longer and thus increases its resale value. Overall, the idea seems nice but 3M is yet to unveil a price for this new layer.

The Fisker Karma models that will be showcased at SEMA will also be using a Mobil 1 0W-30 Advanced Fuel Economy motor oil. That allegedly makes a difference but nobody stated what it is yet.

The post Fisker’s Karma will be attending SEMA appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

Their newest toy, the Atlantic mid-sized sedan that would compete against the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E class isn’t going to be on time.

According to most reports, Fisker has set a new date for production and so on and that the first cars will hit the market late 2014 or even 2015.

That’s pretty woeful news if you’re interested in acquiring one of these cars and it’s even worse if you’re among those who’ve already placed a 5000 USD down payment on one.

Fisker finance folks seem to have been caught out again as the company states they simply don’t have enough money to start making the Atlantic right now.

Even so, it’s not that people are surprised by the idea of a delay but that we’re looking at considerable one.

Originally, the plan called for the Atlantic to enter production later this year, pushing it back by more than two years is… well… pushing it.

Who’s to blame? Well Fisker will not go against its own brand and they will blame the Government who’ve cut back on their original 529 million loan USD, thus leaving Fisker missing out on 150 million.

Along side the issues Fisker have with the Atlantic, there could be quite a problem with the Karma, the model they actually sell these days.

The manufacturer that supplies the battery pack for that one, A123 systems, just filed for bankruptcy these days. I’ve yet to hear such news with a positive spin.

The post Fisker Atlantic gets massive delay appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

Shortly after that he moved to the US and started a brand new company named after himself. Everything looked very promising.

It got even better when the politically correct stuff like resource management, fuel efficiency, electric mobility and a new stunning designed came in.

Shortly after that, things messed up as the Fisker Karma kept getting delayed and more expensive. When it was ready for some reviews the news didn’t get any better.

Though most of the initial testers were impressed with the Karma package, things quickly went downhill when reliability issues started to creep in.

A Consumer Reports test came in and things went towards catastrophic as the brand new Karma broke down very quickly.

The competition’s CEO, Elon Musk, then went on to criticize the ideology behind the whole project and its poor execution.

Really, the recipe was stacking up for some serious bad news but it didn’t stop there. The Karma’s downfall once again comes from Consumer Reports.

The American authority went on to fully review the Karma and the results are poor. It seems that they rate the car as too expensive for what it offers.

On top of that, the fuel economy levels don’t seem to be anywhere near impressive. That said, I very much doubt the people buying the Karma will care too much about these details.

They’ll be buying into the image, the smugness and the individuality rather than the practicality.

The post Fisker Karma bashed by Consumer Reports appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.