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"Henrik Fisker&amp;#039;s five and a half year odyssey to build a car company came to a screeching halt Wednesday when Fisker Automotive announced its founder&amp;#039;s resignation as executive chairman. Fisker&amp;#039;s position appeared increasingly tenuous in the year since he stepped aside as the troubled company&amp;#039;s CEO. The Fisker Karma was more than two years behind schedule in coming to market, and it failed to come close to the fuel efficiency that was promised when it debuted at the 2008 Detroit Auto. Early customers encountered numerous quality problems, particularly with the battery, electronics and infotainment systems. Coming from the pen of the man that created the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the Karma and its concept siblings, the Sunset, Surf and Atlantic all drew justifiable praise. Unfortunately, the engineering and business side of the operation never appeared to get the same degree of attentiveness from the boss. Starting a venture as grandiose as an automaker is something that usually comes from men with huge egos, and this case looks no different. The company and the Karma project were both spawned in the aftermath of Fisker&amp;#039;s departure from Tesla Motors, where CEO Elon Musk was apparently dissatisfied with the work he had done on the Model S, then codenamed &amp;quot;White Star.&amp;quot; Given the ensuing litigation, it almost seemed as though Fisker Automotive was created as little more than a thumb in eye toward Musk. Fisker teamed with California-based Quantum Technologies to create his rolling sculpture&amp;#039;s propulsion system. He also began raising money from some of the same Silicon Valley venture capitalists that funded Tesla, along with tech firms like Google, Amazon and Sun Microsystems. From 2007 to mid-2012, Fisker raised more than $1.2 billion in equity investment from the likes of Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp;amp;amp; Byers, Qatar Holdings, and actor Leonardo Di Caprio. While Tesla&amp;#039;s Model S has had some early issues with items like the retractable door handles and the touchscreen user interface, it has generally been regarded as remarkably well-engineered vehicle from a startup automaker. We think it&amp;#039;s an astonishingly good car. Despite never having recorded a profitable quarter in its near 10-year history, Tesla has at least managed to generate a more or less continuous flow of revenue since launching the Roadster in 2008. Between sales of more than 2000 of the Lotus-derived sports cars, zero-emissions-vehicle credits and electric powertrains to Daimler and Toyota, Tesla has demonstrated some degree of viability.  Fisker Automotive has yet to do that. When Henrik Fisker vacated the CEO position on February 29, 2012, the job was filled temporarily by former Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda. The change in leadership came after the United States Department of Energy froze the company&amp;#039;s access to more of the $529 million in low interest loans it had been awarded. The company was having difficulty delivering cars and had already suffered an embarrassing recall to repair defective lithium ion batteries from A123 Systems. The recall was the beginning of a chain reaction that may have ultimately led to the founder&amp;#039;s departure. With slow Karma deliveries and an expensive recall, A123 quickly began to flounder before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October of 2012. Even before the bankruptcy filing, sometime during the summer, Finnish contract manufacturer Valmet Automotive stopped building Karmas due to a lack of battery packs from A123. Only about 2,000 cars had been delivered at that point. Another $30 million worth of cars sitting in a New Jersey port storage yard awaiting updated batteries were destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. In September 2012, La Sorda was replaced by former General Motors executive Tony Posawatz. As vehicle line director, Posawatz led the engineering effort on the Chevrolet Volt from the early concept stage until after it was in production. As a highly regarded engineer with decades of experience, Posawatz was likely dismayed by what he encountered when he arrived at Fisker&amp;#039;s California office. Faced with a need to keep a lid on the cost of the Volt and using as many off-the-shelf parts as possible, the engineering team led by Posawatz optimized everything possible to maximize the efficiency of the Volt. The same could not be said of the Karma. With it&amp;#039;s high- powered electric motors, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder range-extending engine and massive 22-inch wheels, the voluptuous Karma weighed in at more than 5,200 pounds.  While not nearly as extravagant, Fisker&amp;#039;s planned second model, the smaller Atlantic, was still clearly very design-oriented. While no one at Fisker is talking yet, odds are that Posawatz and Henrik Fisker didn&amp;#039;t see eye-to-eye on many elements of the new car. Posawatz is probably willing to sacrifice some design elements to improve aerodynamics and reduce the weight of the Atlantic in the name of efficiency. Meanwhile, with no revenue coming in for more than six months, no access to those federal loans, and the need to fund development of a second, higher-volume model, investors have undoubtedly been anxious to find an exit strategy. In recent months, Fisker brought in advisors to help look for a deep-pocketed buyer that can fund ongoing production and development of the Atlantic. Reportedly, two Chinese manufacturers, Dongfeng Motors and Volvo owner Geely Motors are the leading bidders to buy a controlling stake in the luxury startup. Various reports had Fisker in major disagreements about the direction of the automaker during the deal-making process. In all likelihood, Posawatz and his team want to take a more pragmatic approach to car-building that will hopefully result in new products that are profitable and efficient at the expense of flamboyant design. Fisker is probably more idealistic. With the current backers looking to recover as much of their investment as possible, that approach is likely to attract a better purchase price from whoever steps up to the plate. Henrik Fisker had a grand vision for a low-emission luxury carmaker, but lacked the management and engineering skills to actually pull it off. Perhaps his departure will enable the company to be reborn in a way that is both environmentally and financially sustainable. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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