The Karma Revero, which was previously known as the Fisker Karma before Fisker Automotive’s bankruptcy, is now back in production, according to recent reports.
The model (and brand) is being relaunched by the China-based automotive supplier Wanxiang — which bought the assets of Fisker Automotive, following the firm’s bankruptcy in 2013.
Notably, while all of the original Fisker Karmas were manufactured under contract in Finland by Valmet Automotive, the new Karma Revero (along with other coming models, probably) is being manufactured at a company-owned factory in Moreno Valley, California.
As noted at the start of the article, pilot production at this Californian production facility is now underway. Once production has been ramped up fully, the 550,000-square-foot facility will churn out up to 3,000 units a year, according to those involved.
Green Car Reports provides some background on the new facility, noting that, “to create the factory, Karma bought an unoccupied warehouse, dismantled the idle assembly line in Finland, shipped it to California, and reassembled it in the building.”
Continuing: “The cars produced at this factory likely won’t be vastly different from the original Fisker Karma last built in 2012. Some changes will be made to update what is a fairly old design by industry standards, and correct quality issues that cropped up in the original cars. However, styling likely won’t change, and performance could be similar to previous models.”
I have to wonder about that decision — without improvements to performance, what’s the incentive to go with Karma, rather than a Tesla, for instance? Remember that the Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid with not that much electric range, and isn’t nearly as quick as a Tesla (5.9 seconds vs 2.8–5.2 seconds).
Pricing information has yet to be revealed.