Fisker dealt another blow, despite high sales
Teen idol Justin Bieber in his chrome Fisker Karma. The US automaker announced a new recall over battery packs at the weekend.LOS ANGELES, June 6 — Fisker has been forced to widen the recall of its US$103,000 (RM309,000) Karma sports car.
The US automaker, which manufactures an extended-range vehicle that uses both battery and a small generator for propulsion, originally recalled vehicles over a battery fault last year.
At the weekend, it was forced to admit that further cars would be called in to have battery systems tweaked after an issue emerged with hose clamps on the battery packs, which could potentially become misaligned and result in a coolant leak.
Although the new recall is small compared to the initial batch, it has garnered another slew of negative headlines for Karma, with major US publications including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times again shining the spotlight on the US-government backed brand.
That won’t make life any easier for Fisker, which saw its reputation dragged through the mud in the wake of the recall and a disastrous — and well-publicised — Consumer Reports test in which the demonstration model broke down.
In May, the company again found itself the subject of negative stories after a garage near Houston with a Karma parked in it caught fire, prompting a new investigation by US regulators.
With all the negative publicity, you might think potential buyers may have been steering clear of the brand — but you’d be wrong, as a cheery set of business figures released last week showed that Fisker has sold over 1,000 Karma vehicles, racking up over US$100 million in revenue for its first quarter.
What remains to be seen, of course, is whether it can continue to attract customers after rival Tesla launches its new Model S sedan, slated for later this month. — AFP/Relaxnews
