Fisker changes its name to Karma and hopes to take on Tesla
Fisker Automotive and Technology Group, maker of the ill-fated Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sedan, has changed its name to Karma Automotive, according to an announcement on its new website. China’s Wanxiang Group, one of the world’s largest automotive component companies, bought Fisker Automotive for $149.2m in 2014, and is apparently ready for the brand to make a comeback and take on Tesla on its home soil. “With new ownership, a new management team, and a new production site, all here in California, it was time to communicate change,” said James Taylor, Karma’s chief marketing officer.

Fisker Automotive, once the maker of the luxury Karma plug-in hybrid, has changed its name to Karma Automotive and will don a new logo.

Karma Automotive says the new name was chosen because it’s “relevant to both the old and new brands, while providing an aspirational message which embodies the company's purpose.”

The company, owned by Chinese chassis supplier Wanxiang Group, will assemble its next generation of vehicles at a new 555,670-square-foot factory in Moreno Valley, Calif.

The City of Moreno Valley says the plant “will pay as much as $26 an hour for positions in the factory's body shop as well as some mechanical and quality-assurance positions.”

Karma Automotive’s new website, which launched today, says the automaker will unveil the first model “of a new generation of Made-in-California automobiles” next year.

James Taylor, Karma's chief marketing officer and a former General Motors exeutive, said in a statement: "With new ownership, a new management team, and a new production site, all here in California, it was time to communicate change.”

In February, Reuters reported that Wanxiang planned to relaunch the Fisker Karma hybrid in mid-2016.

Reuters, citing sources, said the company would rename the vehicle the Elux Karma. Wanxiang did not comment on the report.

Co-founded by Danish designer Henrik Fisker in 2007, Fisker had a mission to build a beautiful green car that could rival exclusive European brands like Maserati and Aston Martin.

The company was an early rival of Tesla Motors Inc., but their fortunes went in opposite directions. A series of missteps and recalls led to disappointing sales for Fisker and eventually the company's bankruptcy filing. Wanxiang acquired Fisker's assets for $149.2 million in a U.S. bankruptcy auction in 2014.

Reuters contributed to this report.