Karma Automotive ‘Makes Up’ Name Of Its First New Car

Last fall, the current owners of the upstart automaker formerly known as Fisker Automotive changed its name to Karma Automotive, after the company’s one and only vehicle. Today it revealed what will be the name of its first all-new model – Revero – which is admittedly a badge that’s cobbled together from spare (albeit rare) parts, so to speak.

“We elected to ‘make up’ a word so its meaning is consistent with our Karma brand, and also be unique, memorable and available worldwide for registration and trademarking,” says Jim Taylor, Karma’s chief marketing officer.

Officially, a Karma press release says the name Revero is a mishmash of two Latin words, “Re,” which means constant effort and continuous improvement, and “Vero,” for truth and honesty.  Unfortunately the release did not go into detail regarding the Revero itself, other than to note it will be Karma’s flagship model. (Some sources suggests it will be an updated version of the original Karma PHEV.) The company’ website hints the car will “deliver a unique combination of advanced-technology with timeless design, built for discerning individuals that want to experience a car,” which, to be honest, is pretty much the de facto definition of a high-end luxury car these days.

The original Fisker Automotive was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a Danish-born auto stylist who is perhaps best known for designing the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9, along with business partner with Bernhard Koehler to (perhaps optimistically in hindsight), “forge a new and radical perspective on what is possible in the automotive world.”

Its only product was the dramatically styled $115,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sports sedan. Though it seemed “new and radical” at the time, its sleekly carved sheetmetal, and not its underling technology, was what turned heads when it debuted for the 2011 model year.

With rather unimpressive fuel economy, Fisker’s Karma was relegated to second-tier status to Tesla which burst onto the scene at about the same time with the far superior all-electric Model S. The car found few takers, and company subsequently went bankrupt. (Fisker subsequently teamed with auto industry veterans Bob Lutz and Gilbert Villarreal to transform the sleek hybrid into a Chevy Corvette-powered eight-cylinder performance sedan to be called the Destino.) Whatever was left of Fisker’s original company was sold off, with financial backing provided by Chinese billionaire Lu Guanqiu, who reportedly launched his career by making bicycles.

Original article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2016/04/26/karma-automotive-makes-up-name-of-its-first-new-car/#3ccae0ee2c5f

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