Karma Automotive solidifies lineup with focus on energy range-extended powertrains

Yahoo

31-03-2025

IRVINE, Calif. — In November 2023, Karma Automotive introduced the Kaveya coupe, a sleek electric vehicle pitched as the brand's halo model, launching an ambitious quest to go upmarket as an ultraluxury brand along with plans for a reimagined product portfolio.
In the 16 months since, the Southern California company, which dates to 2014 when Chinese auto parts maker Wanxiang Group acquired some of the assets of bankrupt Fisker Automotive, has built out its future product lineup with three new nameplates, while shifting its focus from EVs to energy range-extended powertrains.
And while the electric Kaveya remains in Karma's plans — the automaker said it'll launch in 2027 instead of 2026 — the brand is ready to execute, said Marques McCammon, the company's president.
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'Everything right now is about what we do and what we deliver,' McCammon told a crowd inside the company's headquarters here on March 20.
Karma, which McCammon likened to a grown-up startup during the presentation, took a pivotal step in late 2024 when it resumed output of the updated Revero sedan, an extended-range vehicle, at the automaker's Moreno Valley, Calif.
Karma is now shipping about four Reveros a week out of the plant, McCammon told journalists, and should sell around 250 new vehicles in 2025. Pricing for the Revero sedan starts at $125,600 including shipping. Production of the Invictus, based on the Revero, is set to begin in the second quarter. The performance variant features carbon-fiber body panels, chassis upgrades and aluminum wheels. Pricing starts at $187,500 including shipping.
The Gyesera sedan, first pitched as an EV, will now arrive as an extended-range vehicle, in the fourth quarter. It will be the Revero's successor. Karma said the change was in response to near-term market demand for EVs, which has softened.
The Amaris coupe, which debuted March 20, will arrive in 2026. The Karma lineup will be rounded out by the Ivara crossover in 2028. Both the Amaris and the Ivara will have energy range-extended powertrains.
The Ivara, which would be the automaker's first entry in the high-volume crossover segment, is critical to Karma's financial outlook.
'Our profitability is tied to Ivara, so 2028, 2029 is when we expect the business to be profitable,' McCammon said
He said Karma's ownership remains committed to the brand and noted he meets with the board quarterly. McCammon said he's made it clear to the board that Karma will attract new capital and financial support from U.S. investors but declined to specify beyond equity markets.
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The Revero, with roots dating to the 2011 Fisker Karma, features a 28-kilowatt-hour battery pack along with a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine mated to an onboard generator for a total of 536 hp and 550 pound-feet of torque. It has an electric-only range of 80 miles and a total range of 360 miles.
While details about the Amaris' powertrain and range have not been released, Karma said the coupe will use a turbocharged, four-cylinder engine as a generator.
Ed Kim, chief analyst at automotive research firm AutoPacific, said Karma has an opportunity to use its energy range-extended powertrain knowledge to gain an advantage.
The powertrain was ignored for a long time, Kim said, but that's changing with high-profile use cases such as the Ram 1500 Ramcharger and Scout Motors' Harvester extended-range EV energy system.
'All of a sudden, it's super relevant and they [Karma] happen to have it,' Kim said of the energy range-extended setup. 'That is their powertrain.'
But how well-heeled consumers will respond to Karma remains to be seen. And Karma's product rollout is taking place just as a trade war unfolds and threatens to drive new-vehicle prices higher. Karma could see some impact despite its vehicles being built in the U.S.
Analysts believe some exotic brands will be able to absorb the impact of U.S. auto tariffs because their customers often aren't deterred by higher prices.
McCammon said if Karma were to raise prices to mitigate the impact of any tariffs, customers would generally be less sensitive to such changes but acknowledged the brand doesn't enjoy the legacy or history of some competitors, which means Karma models need to be a relative value proposition.
McCammon is positioning Karma to be an ultraluxury U.S. brand and said it's an opportunity to return to a time 'where American ingenuity reigned atop the most prominent brands in the world,' pointing to Packard, Duesenberg, Cord and Auburn.
Karma customers, who McCammon said are typically entrepreneurs or business owners, are familiar with established ultraluxury and luxury brands. A Karma might be a third, fourth or fifth vehicle in someone's fleet, he noted, with many of those customers also owning a Mercedes-Benz, Bentley or Aston Martin.
Karma has 36 dealerships globally, including in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East.
The company's sales goal for 2025 — about 250 — is modest, but McCammon told Automotive News that the brand still intends to eventually reach annual deliveries of around 5,000.
'At that point, we're solid and profitable and we're able to innovate the way that we want,' McCammon said. 'For us to get to that stability is about half of that. We don't need to do a lot. We just need to do what we do well.'
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