Q+A With Henrik Fisker

The automotive industry is a notoriously difficult nut to crack, but Henrik Fisker is determined that his next car, the technology-laden EMotion sports saloon, will be the catalyst for his business to flourish.

- James Scoltock

The automotive industry can appear like a closed shop when it comes to new names entering the market. Many have tried to design, develop and sell cars – especially electric and hybrid models – but few last the course, and most disappear before the first vehicle runs off the production line.

Automotive is one of the most difficult businesses to succeed in; it’s expensive, high-risk and dominated by a handful of companies.

There are some risk takers out there; Elon Musk is rarely out of the headlines, James Dyson is steadily building up his company’s automotive resources, and Mate Rimac continues to develop the Rimac Concept One supercar – a car famously crashed by Richard Hammond while filming for The Grand Tour TV show.

But they aren’t the only ones. Another is also building up his business to compete in the ultra-competitive automotive industry.

Henrik Fisker has a long history of working and succeeding in the automotive business with successful stints at firms including BMW and Aston Martin, designing cars from the BMW X5 to the Artega GT. He isn’t infallible though; one of his own projects under his then new company, Fisker Automotive, was the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid four-door sports saloon, which had a production run that only lasted from 2011 to 2012 after the car’s battery supplier, A123 Systems filed for bankruptcy.

Fisker subsequently suffered controversy when Tesla Motors filed a lawsuit accusing him of accepting a contract to design the early stages of the Model S (that was at the time destined to become a plug-in hybrid) only to look at the company’s plans before the unveiling of the Karma. However, “overwhelming” evidence in Fisker’s favour brought the lawsuit to a close, with Tesla footing the seven figure sum legal bill.