SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

After declaring bankruptcy in 2013, Fisker Automotive [wikipedia.org] may be coming back with a new electric car [pcmag.com]:

Three years after hybrid sports car manufacturer Fisker Automotive laid off the majority of its workforce [pcmag.com], the company is back in business with a new Chinese owner and plans to unveil a luxury electric car this summer.

Renamed Karma Automotive, the electric car maker has moved from Finland to California and is working on a new car to be named the Revero, according to the Wall Street Journal [wsj.com]. Chief marketing officer Jim Taylor was vague on the exact timing, saying only that the car will be announced in July or August, and orders will begin later this year.

"If you manufacture all kinds of hype then fail to deliver on time, it undermines your credibility," Taylor told the Journal. "We are being careful about making promises [because] things happen in car development."

The caution is understandable given the company's history. Its original car, the $100,000 Karma plug-in hybrid, won praise from celebrity customers and a $529 million loan [pcmag.com] from the Department of Energy to offset development costs. But the loan was frozen due to delays in launching the car, and Fisker laid off 75 percent of its workforce to avoid bankruptcy.

Original Submission