[13] In February 2014, Fisker Automotive's Karma vehicle design, tooling, and a manufacturing facility in Delaware were purchased by Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group.

[12] Fisker was involved in the design of many premium cars such as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, Artega GT, and BMW Z8.

[16] The Fisker Tramonto and Latigo used chassis and power trains from Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6 Series automobiles.

In February 2012, Tom LaSorda was named the new CEO,[22] and Henrik Fisker became executive chairman,[23] but six months later on August 14, La Sorda was replaced by Tony Posawatz, previously General Motors Vehicle Line Director for the Chevrolet Volt.

[24] The company suffered a setback on October 29, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy flooded and destroyed its entire European shipment of 338 Karmas at Port Newark, New Jersey.

[25] Sixteen of the cars burned, because six to eight feet of seawater caused a short circuit in a vehicle control unit in one Karma, and high winds spread the resulting fire to 15 others.

[30][31] On October 11, 2013, Hybrid Technology LLC agreed to buy Fisker's defaulted government loan at a heavy discount.

Concurrently, on November 23, 2013, Fisker agreed, subject to bankruptcy court approval, to be acquired by Hybrid, owned by Hong Kong billionaire, Richard Li.

[32][33] At the last moment, though, Chinese parts supplier Wanxiang Group submitted a competing bid of US$24.75 million, supported by the Official Creditors' Committee in the case.

The cabin interior was designed by Fisker Automotive, but was made in the United States by Magna International of Canada.

The EVer powertrain system, technically a series hybrid, delivered over 400 horsepower, and was inspired by Quantum Technologies, a cofounder of and early investor in Fisker.

[42] In August 2012 Fisker announced that the Sunset and the Surf were both on hold, as the company had decided to focus on the planned mid-sized Atlantic sedan.

Originally under development as "Project Nina", Fisker had reached a deal with BMW for them to supply turbocharged 2.0 liter four cylinder engines for the Atlantic, with the car using a similar plug in hybrid system as the Karma.

[46][47] Fisker Automotive distributed vehicles through a traditional dealer network and partnered with five importers: GP Supercars (Merano, Italy), Nellemann (Copenhagen, Denmark); the Emil Frey Group (Zurich, Switzerland); BD Otomotive (Istanbul, Turkey)[48] and Al-Futtaim Group (Middle East and North Africa).

[53] Then-Vice President of the United States Joe Biden (later President) attended the October 27, 2009, announcement that Fisker Automotive would take control of the Boxwood Road Plant (previously owned and operated by General Motors as Wilmington Assembly) in Wilmington, Delaware, with production scheduled to begin in late 2012.