Tesla Motors has sued Henrik Fisker, a designer it hired to style its forthcoming WhiteStar electric-hybrid four-door saloon, soon after Fisker announced details of its own Karma four-seater sports saloon.

 

The Tesla Motors lawsuit, filed on Monday, 14th April in California, accuses Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, the COO of Fisker Coachbuild, of fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract during their work last year for Tesla.

 

The lawsuit reportedly claims that Tesla paid Fisker, a former BMW and Aston Martin stylist, nearly $800,000 for design work and gave him access to its business plan and proprietary engineering data developed during production of its first vehicle, the Tesla Roadster.

 

Tesla accuses Fisker of purposely providing substandard designs for the Tesla saloon - resulting in a six-month delay of its planned launch to 2010 - while using Tesla's data and holding back Fisker's best designs for his own Karma vehicle.

 

The lawsuit seeks to bar Fisker from using Tesla trade secrets and confidential information in his car design, and to award Tesla lost profits and punitive damages of an unspecified amount.

 

Fisker Automotive is a joint venture between Fisker Coachbuild and Quantum Technologies, formed in September 2007. The latter company developed the Karma car's plug-in hybrid drive system.

From: autoparts.uk/news