The Auto Writer

Quick! What types of cars are built in Finland? If you are left scratching your head in wonder, you aren’t alone. Finland isn’t widely known for its global automotive manufacturing capabilities, though two Porsche models — the Boxter and the Cayman — are currently being built by Valmet Automotive on behalf of the premier German sportscar maker.

Now, Valmet Automotive will soon be adding Fisker to their manufacturing portfolio, agreeing to produce the all-electric sedan for the Irvine, California based company beginning in the fourth quarter of 2009. The Fisker Karma, unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this past January, will be produce for the domestic (US) market first with deliveries to Europe commencing in 2010. Fisker expects that as many as 15,000 Karmas will roll off of the Finnish assembly line annually and the company has plans to seek a second plant, stateside, to provide additional production capacity.

“After an exhaustive global search, we are thrilled to have found the ideal manufacturing partner in Valmet Automotive,” said Fisker Automotive CEO, Henrik Fisker. “Valmet offers us the quality and speed necessary to meet our production goals and given that more than half of Fisker Automotive’s sales are expected to be outside of North America, Valmet represents an ideal international foothold. We do have a strategic plan to utilize an American manufacturing site for future models of the Fisker Karma.”

“It is forecasted that the market of environmentally-friendly electric vehicles will grow very fast and we are proud to be in the pole position in this growth,” says Ilpo Korhonen, President of Valmet Automotive. “Fisker Automotive leads the way by adapting the most innovative technologies to new, environmentally-friendly premium cars. The strategic partnership with Fisker Automotive will open a new window for Valmet Automotive. Our production process can be easily adapted to the production of electric and hybrid cars and new body designs. In line with our renewed strategy, engineering will have a strong role in the cooperation.”

“Our mission at Fisker Automotive is to develop beautiful, environmentally friendly cars that make environmental sense without compromise — be it quality-wise or cost-wise,” Fisker continued. “Valmet Automotive has the track-record, high quality technology and has the dedicated resources to take us there, and their high tech production line with eco-friendly automated paints agrees with our ideology.”

The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid, a four door sports sedan with and electric range of 50 miles and a total range of more than 350 miles. The sedan boasts proprietary Q-DRIVE powertrain developed by Quantum Technologies, to give it a potential fuel economy of over 100 miles per gallon (MPG) on extended drives. With a top speed of 125mph and 0-60 acceleration in less than 6 seconds, the Fisker Karma is being billed as the world’s first true luxury plug-in hybrid sports car.

In addition to producing the two Porsche models, Valmet Automotive has also produced cars for Saab, Opel, Talbot, Renault, and Lada. Over the past 40 years, more than 1,000,000 cars have rolled off of Valmet’s assembly lines. The company is a division of Metso Corporation, headquartered in Helsinki.

(Source: Fisker Automotive, Inc.)