Car Throttle

The Chicago auto show is upon is, which means... well, some facelifts, some new models, but not huge news like Detroit or Geneva.  Still, new stuff!   Inside: Two new Acuras, perhaps the world's most powerful 4-seat production convertible, minor facelifts for a Datsun, a big ol' GMC, and a sweet new Kia they need to make pronto.  Oh, and some bad news on Fisker. Acura officially debuted two new production cars - the ILX (pictured above) and the new RDX.  The ILX takes over for both the Canadian-market CSX sedan (Civic based), and will replace the US-market TSX sedan (Euro Accord-based) as Acura's entry-level model.  Why don't they call it the Integra?  Dunno.  Power comes from three sources.  The base model has a 2.0L I4

Cars and Coffee is always an opportunity to see both the newest, coolest stuff (the first Nissan Leaf I saw was at Cars & Coffee) and some old classic iron as well.  It seems like each month there's a "star," a car that people crowd around to get their first good glimpse of.  Guess what it was this month? If you guessed it was the Fisker Karma, you'd be correct.  There was a crowd around the Finnish-built extended-range electric vehicle like flies around a pile of rotten fruit.  Errr, bad metaphor.  And if that looks like a GM LNF (which I really need to stop writing about), that's because it is.  This is the first Karma I've seen in the flesh, and the overall impression

We've been staring at the same photos of the Fisker Karma for a long time - too long. A few new images have been released here and there, but basically the same two sets of press photography released by the company have been floating around since 2008 and 2009. To our appreciation, Fisker has decided to fix that with a full new gallery of beautiful shots featuring the Karma and its latest companion, the Surf shooting brake. The Surf was unveiled at Frankfurt as a production model. It aims to fix the Karma's dreadful luggage capacity issue by adding on a rear hatchback. While it will be sold globally, it is aimed squarely at the European market. It will cost a price premium over the

After signing a power train deal with BMW for its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, Fisker is moving ahead with work on Project Nina. The Karma is Fisker's primary product for now though, and as such that is the focus. We've already seen a convertible concept, and now a report says that the Frankfurt Motor Show will bring us a shooting brake version of the car. We know a lot of readers are CarThrottle seem to be fans of wagons and shooting brakes for their increased utility without sacrificing dynamics. In the United States, the general population seems to disagree with that assessment. However, in the United Kingdom and the rest of European markets, vehicles with a hatch are best-sellers. Fisker is looking to expand opportunities around the world

After a few delays and an increase in price tag, the first Fisker Karma was delivered just over a month ago. Thanks to heavy private investment and $529 million in Department of Energy funding, Henrik Fisker's vision has been brought to fruition. Some of that money went to funding production of the Karma, but the majority is for the low-cost Project NINA. Project NINA aims to bring a more affordable mid-size sedan plug-in to the market, produced at a former General Motors facility in WIlmington, Delaware. Thanks to GM's bankruptcy, Fisker purchased the facility (which used to produce the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky) at low cost. With the plant lined up, development on Project NINA continuing full-speed ahead. The latest news about the car

Many delays have beset the Fisker Karma. It was originally supposed to launch in late 2009 (before the Chevrolet Volt), but that date has been pushed back to this year. Finally, production has started at Valmet Automotive's plant in Finland. According to Auto Car production is beginning with a paltry rate of just five cars per week, but that rate is expected to rise to 300 a week by November of this year. With 3,000 orders to fill, this should result in a wait until at least early 2012 for new customers (if all goes to plan). Fisker intends to sell around 15,000 cars a year of the Karma, which is a lofty goal. Its development was helped to a large degree by the

Fisker Automotive has come along way from the original company Fisker Automotive that was first announced in 2007. The current company is an automotive manufacturer with investment from private equity and Department of Energy government loans in the hundreds of millions. The money will go toward production of the Karma extended-range electric vehicle as well as the Project NINA, a low-car built at a former General Motors facility in Delaware. The Karma is the company's first real production car, and its been in the news since its introduction at the North American International Auto Show in 2008. The car has been beset by many delays - originally it was supposed to come in November 2009, then September 2010 and now the start date

We've heard about the much-ballyhooed Fisker Karma for quite some time. Company co-founder and designer Henrik Fisker engineered a remarkable coup with the Karma. He turned his company from a coachbuilding endeavor to a company focused on range-extended electric vehicles. The Karma was the vehicle that enabled that, and it resulted in huge grant from the Department of Energy. Now the Karma's is getting closer to a reality (at least we hope so) and the company has produced this new advertisement. They've done one previously, but this latest spot is much better done (as in, there was more money to spend on it). There's no doubt the Karma is a stunning vehicle. Now let's see it in person! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo5YOZ2saZk&feature=player_embedded

Things have been going pretty well for Fisker lately - like bitter rival Tesla, the company has gotten loan guarantees from the Department of Energy to fund the Karma, and the company's new low-cost car, Project NINA. In addition, Fisker has secured a former General Motors manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Delaware. In comparison, Tesla is still readying an announcement on a production plant for the Model S. In July, a date in mid-2010 for the Karma was announced, but a new date has been set at the Los Angeles International Auto Show that pegs deliveries for the car in the third quarter of 2010. That would be less than 36 months since the car's debut at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, which is a pretty

News broke just yesterday about the possibility of a Fisker plant at General Motors' Wilmington, Delaware facility where the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky roadsters were produced. Now it's official, as the announcement was made today! Fisker executives made the announcement onsite, along with Vice President Joe Biden, Delaware Governor's Jack Markell and other state officials. The plant being reopened is welcome news to the many that lost their jobs in the recent plant closure. Fisker intends to purchase the dormant company from the Motors Liquidation Company (MLC), the part of General Motors that still remains in bankruptcy, for a paltry sum of $18 million. The plant is being purchased for the production Fisker's low-cost Project NINA. The company recently secured a $528.7 million dollar loan from