In February 2014, Chinese auto-parts supplier
Wanxiang Group purchased assets of
Fisker Automotive for $149.2 million in a bankruptcy auction. These assets included designs, a
plug-in hybrid powertrain, and the former
Wilmington Assembly factory in Wilmington, Delaware. Fisker Automotive was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker and his business partner Bernhard Koehler. Wanxiang also purchased A123 Systems following its bankruptcy declaration. From these acquisitions Wanxiang Group formed its new company
Karma Automotive. In early 2016, Karma Automotive enlisted a
straw buyer in an attempt to
reverse engineer technology from a parts supplier and former employee. In October 2016, the Wilmington, Delaware factory was put up for sale by Wanxiang Group. The site was purchased by Harvey, Hanna & Associates in 2017 and was completely demolished by end of 2019. The company began building the Revero in 2016 at its factory in
Moreno Valley, California, with production set to begin in late 2016. The Revero debuted on September 8, 2016. Karma planned to manufacture 3,000 of the vehicles. On April 11, 2019, Karma Automotive issued a recall and stop-sale order on all Revero vehicles, due to a flaw in the roll over sensors which would disable the side-curtain airbags. In 2019, the company opened the Karma's Innovation and Customization Center. In conjunction with the opening, Karma announced a design and manufacturing partnership with electric vehicle company AYRO to build 20,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2023. Karma's Innovation and Customization Center has the ability to build the frames, chassis and bodies, integrate the powertrain and finish the cars in its robotic paint shop. In February 2020, the company laid off an additional 60 employees. In July 2020, the company raised US$100 million from outside investors. Karma announced its intentions to license its electric vehicle platform to other automakers in order to generate more revenue. In November 2020, Karma sued
Lordstown Motors in a technology dispute. == Leadership ==