Remember Karma Automotive, the Chinese-owned, California-based company that acquired Fisker Automotive’s assets and began selling the Fisker Karma as the Karma Revero? No? Vaguely? Well, it’s still around and, even though it’s sold less than 1,000 cars in the last 10 years, the new president has his eyes set on competing with Ferrari and McLaren, Automotive News reports.
“My goal for the brand is to be commensurate with the likes of McLaren, Aston and, in a dream state, Ferrari,” Karma Automotive President Marques McCammon told Automotive News. “Five thousand-ish units annually would be a very, very solid business for us.”
It sounds like an absolutely untenable goal at first glance, but at the same time, McCammon has the backing of Wanxiang Group, a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that operates a massive parts supplier in China, and he claims there has “literally been billions invested in Karma.” Billions of dollars have also been invested in Faraday Future, and that’s barely a real car company, but still. It’s going to be a lot easier to turn Karma around if you have a parent company willing to throw a few billion dollars at making it happen.
Karma also managed to poach Michelle Christensen, the designer of the new NSX, from Acura as its head of design. And while an updated version of the Revero will reportedly go on sale in late 2024 with a price between $125,000 and $150,000, Karma also recently revealed the Kaveya concept. Set to go on sale toward the end of 2025, the Kaveya is a sporty electric coupe with butterfly doors and more than 1,000 hp in top trim that will offer a range of at least 250 miles. Production will be limited to 400 units with a price in the $300,000 range.
Whether or not wealthy customers will actually be interested in Karma’s new offerings still remains to be seen. Not many people have ever heard of Karma, and even those who have probably don’t know it’s still in business. Still, there’s nothing wrong with having a little ambition, and with a few billion dollars in funding lined up, it’s worth a shot.