Valmet Automotive Announces Letter of Intent to Build Fisker Karma in Finland
By Scott Doggett July 15, 2008
At right, Henrik Fisker and his Karma.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
California-based Fisker Automotive has signed a letter of intent with Valmet Automotive to assemble the Karma plug-in gas-electric hybrid sports car in Finland beginning next year, Valmet announced today.
Under the agreement, Valmet will start production of the Fisker Karma -- the first production car of the Irvine, Calif., company -- in the fourth quarter of 2009, with delivery to North America the same year and to Europe in 2010.
The value of the deal was not disclosed. Valmet currently produces Porsche Boxster and Cayman models and has produced vehicles for Saab, Renault, Lada, Talbot and Opel.
Privately held Fisker said it plans to produce up to 15,000 cars a year at the Uusikaupunki plant, which employs about 800 staff and is located 150 miles northwest of Helsinki.
The Fisker Karma was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January. The four-door vehicle can travel up to 50 miles on a single electric charge before a small onboard gasoline engine kicks in to generate power for the car's electric motor and battery pack. Its initial retail price is set at $80,000.
Valmet President Ilpo Korhonen said the deal with Fisker will "open a new window" for Valmet and is expected to generate several hundreds of new jobs when production of the Fisker Karma reaches its prime.
Valmet was chosen as the engineering and manufacturing supplier for Fisker Automotive after an extensive global search, Fisker Automotive CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement.
"Valmet offers us the quality and speed necessary to meet our production goals, and given that more than half of Fisker Automotive's sales are expected to be outside North America, Valmet represents an ideal international foothold," Fisker said.
Fisker Automotive was founded in 2007 as joint venture of Fisker Coachbuild LLC and Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc., which supplies Fisker Karma's powertrain.
Valmet provides automotive engineering and manufacturing services for premium cars. The company has produced more than 1 million vehicles in its nearly 40-year history.
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