Not all is quiet on the western front where two new green car companies are getting ready for their day in court. Tesla, who have recently started production of their Tesla Roadster, have filed a lawsuit last Monday against Henrik Fisker.
Henrik Fisker, best known for his time at BMW, Aston Martin and his coachbuild company, was hired by Tesla for USD 800,000 in 2007 to design their next vehicle, the Tesla WhiteStar sedan. Henrik Fisker was granted access to all the information Tesla had, including trade secrets, technology and business plans.
At the last NAIAS show in Detroit, Fisker Automotive (a new co-operation between Fisker and Quantum Technologies) displayed their take on green luxury cars, the Fisker Karma. Tesla has gone through its share of turmoil in its short history and is readying itself for yet more. Tesla claims that Henrik Fisker has supplied them with substandard designs delaying the development of the green sedan by six-months while keeping the best designs for himself and the Karma project.
Obviously Tesla is not happy with the new competition, and although the situation leading up to the lawsuit sounds sketchy at best we wonder whether they actually have a case to retrieve lost profits and punitive damages.
Fisker Coachbuild's law firm has not made any comments yet.
