Early career BMW In 1989, Fisker began working at
BMW Technik, the company's advanced design studio in Munich. His first project he collaborated was
the E1 electric concept car, designed by Mark Clarke. From 1992 to 1997, he refined the Z07 concept car, which would become the
BMW Z8 roadster, produced from 1999 to 2003. The car combined design elements from the company's past with a modern look, paying homage to the
BMW 507 (produced from 1956 to 1959). Fisker also worked on the design of BMW's first
SUV, a mid-size luxury
crossover introduced in 1999, the
X5. From 1999 to 2001, Fisker was the president and chief executive officer of
Designworks, a BMW industrial design studio headquartered in
Newbury Park, California.
Ford, Aston Martin, and others Fisker left BMW for the
Ford Motor Company in 2001, where he served as design director at
Aston Martin. He was in charge of the production design of the
Aston Martin DB9 (in production from 2004 to 2016), bringing in elements from the history of Aston Martin cars. The DB9 was available as both a coupe and a convertible. Fisker also designed the
Aston Martin V8 Vantage (in production from 2005 to 2018). It was named the coolest car of the year and the best sounding car of the year by
Top Gear in 2005. The Vantage is the best selling Aston Martin of all time. From September 2001 to August 2003, Fisker was creative director of Ingeni, Ford's London-based design and creativity center. In August 2003, he became the director of Ford's Global Advanced Design Studio in
Irvine, California, where the
Ford Shelby GR-1 was designed. In 2007,
Tesla Motors hired Fisker to perform initial design work on the
Tesla Model S electric sedan, which was introduced in 2012. That year, he also designed the body of the
Artega GT two-door sports car,
Artega Automobile's first model, which was produced between 2009 and 2012. It spawned the 2011 Artega SE, an electric sports car with an identical body.
Independent companies Fisker Coachbuild In 2005, Fisker partnered with Bernhard Koehler to start a custom car firm,
Fisker Coachbuild, based in
Orange County, California. The Karma was the only car by Fisker to ever be produced. The
Fisker Surf, displayed in 2011, was designed as a four-door plug-in hybrid hatchback. Neither the Sunset or the Surf entered production. In total, the company raised over $1 billion from private investors. In September 2009, Fisker Automotive was awarded a $528 million loan guarantee by the
United States Department of Energy (DOE). The automaker was one of four recipients of the
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, to encourage the domestic manufacture of electric cars. The funds were to be used to develop the Karma, as well as an affordable family-size plug-in hybrid car. The loan facility was frozen at $192 million in February 2012, after the DOE claimed that Fisker missed its milestones. The
New York Times described the company as the "
Solyndra of the electric car industry" and a "debacle". Assets of Fisker Automotive were sold at a bankruptcy auction in 2014 to Chinese automotive parts firm
Wanxiang for $149.2 million. In September 2015, Fisker Automotive was renamed
Karma Automotive. The Fisker Karma was renamed the Karma Revero in 2016. Fisker is not affiliated with Karma Automotive or its parent company Wanxiang.
HF Design In 2013, Fisker formed HF Design & Technology, a Los Angeles-based design house. In November 2014, Fisker designed the
Galpin-Fisker Mustang Rocket, a coachbuilt custom-bodied Mustang. The car was a collaboration between HF Design and
Galpin Auto Sports. In 2017, it was renamed the VLF Rocket V8.
VLF Automotive In January 2016, Fisker formed
VLF Automotive with manufacturer and former
Boeing executive Gilbert Villarreal, and auto engineer and former
General Motors executive
Bob Lutz, to manufacture small-run handcrafted luxury cars. Based in
Auburn Hills, Michigan, VLF is the successor to VL Automotive, which was launched in 2013 and led by Villarreal and Lutz. Production began at VLF's Auburn Hills manufacturing facility in August 2016, with approximately 50 of the two-seaters scheduled to be manufactured. Only five cars were actually produced.
Fisker Inc. In 2016, Fisker launched
Fisker Inc. The company's only vehicle is the
Fisker Ocean, which began production in 2022. The first deliveries of the launch edition, the Ocean One, occurred in May 2023. As of 2022, the Ocean had 63,000 preorders. Only 10,000 were built, with fewer than half delivered. On 8 July 2020, Fisker announced the completion of a US$50 million Series C financing round funded by Moore Strategic Ventures, the private investment arm of
Louis Bacon. On 13 July 2020, Fisker announced that Fisker Inc. would offer an
initial public offering on the
New York Stock Exchange through a merger with
special-purpose acquisition company Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp., which is backed by private equity firm
Apollo Global Management. On 30 October 2020, Fisker Inc. officially closed its merger with Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp. The company is publicly listed and traded on the
New York Stock Exchange under the ticker (NYSE:FSR). On 28 June 2021, Fisker stock was added to the
Russell 3000 Index. On 17 June 2024, Fisker Inc. filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, listing liabilities at between $100 million to $500 million and assets between $500 million and $1 billion. The company stated that possible deal talks with a big automaker collapsed, which led it to its bankruptcy. Fisker claims that it is planning to repay its creditors during the bankruptcy proceedings. ==Controversies==