You no longer think it possible, but the Fisker Karma was once a modest success in the Netherlands. Even before the first car arrived in the Netherlands in 2011, importer Kroysmans already sold a hundred copies. But unfortunately, even a good example of surreptitious advertising in the series Two and a Half Men couldn't save the brand. The brand never really died, and now it is back again. What exactly is the deal with Fisker and Karma?
Bloomberg calculated that Fisker made a loss of around $660,000 per Karma sold. You don't have to be a business economist to know that that is not a good business case. When the automaker finally declared bankruptcy in 2014, a Chinese company bought the remains. The Chinese liked the name 'Karma' and used it as a brand name. And so the Karma Revero was born, which is actually just a Fisker Karma.
The old Fisker Karma is still for sale
The Karma Revero received a major facelift about five years ago in which the 2.0-liter engine from GM was exchanged for a 1.5-liter engine from BMW. But you can still buy this car, which is basically more than ten years old. There is even an importer in the Netherlands who is willing to sell you a Revero.
Recently, Karma revealed the Gysera. This is a fully electric car, but one that still looks a lot like the very old Revero (or Fisker Karma, depending on your preference). This EV has 600 hp and a 120-kWh battery. Admittedly it is a beautiful design, but we are curious how many people are willing to pay over a hundred thousand for a recycled design from a bankrupt brand.
And then suddenly the Fisker brand returned
The original man behind the Revero, Mr. Henrik Fisker, apparently started to itch again. So in 2019 he announced that he would be launching a car brand again. This time he would focus on affordable electric cars. The Fisker Ocean is now available and you can now suddenly buy cars from Fisker and Karma. In the Netherlands you now pay just over 43,000 euros for a fully electric Ocean.
How are the brands doing now?
We have the feeling that Karma has been chugging along with the old model all these years, but steps are now being taken to become a fully electric brand. How that will work out remains to be seen. In addition to the semi-new Gysera, there should also be a sports car. This Kaveya should have more than 1,000 hp.
Unfortunately, things are not going so well with the new Fisker. In the last quarter of 2023, the company made a loss of 428 million euros and 15 percent of the staff had to quit. It appears that Nissan may be throwing a $400 million lifeline. In return, the Japanese brand wants to borrow the technology of Fisker's electric pickup.
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