Niche automaker Fisker seems to have secured a bright spot in Detroit’s increasingly bleak automotive landscape. The California-based automaker is opening an engineering center in Pontiac, Michigan, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit, to develop the production version of its Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sedan.
The Karma plug-in hybrid is set to debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.
The Pontiac facility will employ about 200 workers and be measures 34,000 square feet. Automotive News reports that Fisker has just begun moving into the site, which currently employs about 130 workers.
“We’re excited to start something up,” said Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive. “We’re getting a lot of good people in–so that’s obviously a big advantage for us.”
Fisker says that the Karma, which will be assembled in Finland, will be on the market by November 2009. The debut sedan will cost about $87,000 and be capable of driving 50 miles on a single charge, a top speed of 125 miles per hour, as well as 0-60 sprints under six seconds, the automaker says. Company board member and marketing guru Vic Doolan says that the Karma sedan is the first of several such models the automaker is developing.
