FISKER KARMA NAMED ‘DESIGN OF THE YEAR’ BY AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE

11/9/2011 6:14 AM EST

FISKER KARMA NAMED ‘DESIGN OF THE YEAR’ BY AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE

Anaheim, California USA – November 9, 2011: The Fisker Karma sedan, the world’s first true Electric Vehicle with extended range, has been named AUTOMOBILE magazine’s 2012 ‘Design of the Year’.

The Karma premium luxury sedan is the brainchild of Henrik Fisker, the designer responsible for such modern standouts as the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9.

The Karma is no less dramatic than these creations and according to AUTOMOBILE editors, “stands to become an icon, even without mention of its range-extended electric powertrain”. Read the full article here.

Fisker’s Karma, writes AUTOMOBILE magazine Design Editor Robert Cumberford, "is a beautiful and highly dramatic automobile, unlike anything else on the road today and yet very much like dozens of the most beloved sports cars of the past".

Cumberford points to the Karma's exaggerated proportions, with an elongated hood and a long wheelbase, the use of repurposed wood from sunken logs for the interior trim and solar energy receptors in the glass roof as particularly interesting design features. “This is an impressive car, outstanding on the road, and very much a worthy ‘Design of the Year’.”

“As a design-oriented company we are incredibly proud to win AUTOMOBILE magazine’s ‘Design of the Year’ award,” said Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive. “It proves our belief that we can produce environmentally responsible cars without sacrificing the emotional things that make us fall in love with cars in the first place.”

In receiving this award, the Fisker Karma joins an exclusive list of previous winners, such as the Ferrari 456GT (1995), BMW 6-Series (2005), and another Henrik Fisker design, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (2007). However, it is only the fifth American car to have won in the award’s 23-year history.

The Fisker Karma is now arriving in showrooms throughout the U.S. and Europe. Designed and engineered at the company’s Southern California headquarters, the Karma sedan is a technology leader that offers a unique combination of world-class styling and performance, and the lowest emissions of nearly any production car.