Bentzen’s Blog

The American Car Company
by Brian Bentzen

The Age of the American car company has not passed.  Chrysler is leaving the US, and wrecking havoc with bankrupty law in the process.  GM will soon be owned by the government and its own unions, which will make for interesting contract negotiations.  Ford has stood alone, refusing government intervention but still hasn’t made an annual profit since 2005.  As these automakers struggle to turn a profit, it seems to me like the perfect time to start a new car company.  Henrik Fisker beat me to it.  Fisker Automotive, will release it’s first vehicle, an $88,000 sporty plug in hybrid called the Karma, later this year.

The Karma is beautiful.  Fisker made his name as a designer and his company’s first offering lives up to expectations aesthetically.  The vehicle offers two driving modes:  Stealth (high efficiency) and Sport (0-60 in 5.8 s).  The first 50 miles of range are powered by a lithium ion battery.  After that, the GM supplied gasoline engine kicks in and powers the battery, giving the car an unlimited range as opposed to electric only cars like the Tesla.  The only problem with this car is that it is actually manufactured in Finland and thus not the new American car company that is begging to be created.