Fisker Karma at Geneva

The Fisker Karma took just 12 months to develop from concept car fantasy to production car reality, and now the American firm is thrashing out plans to bring the car officially to Europe.

We spoke to CEO Henrik Fisker at Geneva, and he was in buoyant mood and highly optimistic for the future of the brand. The order book currently stands at over 1300 cars, with US deliveries starting at the end of the year and European cars coming in the second quarter of 2010.

Europe is expected to account for half of the Karma’s projected 15,000 sales per annum, with a provisional price of 78,780 euros (plus taxes). UK dealers and prices will be announced in July, but around £75K should be a good bet.

While that may sound a lot for an unknown brand, there’s a lot on offer. The Karma boasts plug-in hybrid technology that offers up to the equivalent of 100mpg, but if the mood takes you there’s also nearly 400bhp going through the rear wheels.

‘We want to prove that we can drive round with a conscience and still have performance cars. We aimed to make one of the best handling four doors, and we benchmarked three cars – the Maserati Quattroporte, BMW 7-series and Jaguar XJR’ said Henrik. He owns a BMW M3 and has lent this to his engineers as inspiration for the Karma’s steering.

Henrik also revealed that people stepping into Karmas are coming from established brands – Range Rover, Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes being the main four. ‘We are also getting some Toyota Prius owners, too’ he said. ‘They left the luxury market a few years back and got a Prius but are now returning’.

As well as the Karma saloon and convertible, there will be a third car on the platform, most likely a coupe version, although Fisker remained tight-lipped about what it may be. There’s also a smaller, higher volume car in the pipeline. While it’s still early days, it is expected to be close to the BMW 5-series in size and hopefully price.

Henrik is highly optimistic and believes people are more willing to accept a new brand if they are seeking new technology. He wants the company to grow – ‘100,000 cars a year? Why not’ – but insists that Fisker will only ever be about plug-in hybrids.

‘Whatever segment we are in, though, we will always offer the best looking car and a sporty drive’ he added.

Read about the rest of the Geneva show highlights here.