Fisker Automotive began as Fisker Coachbuild, a company founded in 2005 by Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler to create specially bodied versions of the BMW 6 Series and Mercedes-Benz SL-Class for sale to wealthy clients.
Fisker himself is well-known for his work as a designer with the BMW Z8 and with the Aston Martin DB-9. When the premium market proved to be difficult to crack for his coachbuilding company, which was inteneded to exploit commercial enthusiasm for fine design, Fisker and Koehler established Fisker Automotive in 2007 to create and build the Fisker Karma, an exotic plug-in hybrid.
The Fisker Karma features an innovative hybrid system from Quantum Technologies. Equally important is the way Fisker Automotive itself has been structured, as it brings together available design, technology and manufacturing expertise from various places in the automotive business even as the number of formal employees at the company is very low.
