Henrik Fisker
Henrik Fisker
Henrik Fiskeris a Danish-born automotive designer and entrepreneur residing in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for designing iconic luxury cars including the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Fisker Karma, Galpin-Fisker Mustang Rocket, VLF Force 1 V10 and the VLF Destino V8. He also designed the Viking motorcycle and Benetti Fisker 50 superyacht. He is the founder of HF Design & Technology, co-founder of VLF Automotive, founder and former CEO of Fisker Coachbuild, and founder...
NationalityDanish
ProfessionDesigner
Date of Birth10 August 1963
CountryDenmark
We believe that there are many buyers who want a stylish, sporty car that sends a positive message about their concern for the environment as they drive it down the street.
I used to have to pick up the phone and talk to people who placed orders for the car. When you reach a certain size, you need to have processes in place.
I remember, as a kid, riding in the back of my dad's old Saab 95 in Denmark. We were on the highway, and suddenly this silver Maserati Bora came upon us, then passed. At the time, to me, this car looked like a spaceship.
Design - pure beauty - will be number one at Fisker Coachbuild. We want to bring beautiful, desirable cars to the market, limit the production of each model, and do so with the highest quality.
At a European auto show, I had someone from a German car company come up to me and say the Karma should cost $125,000, not $87,900, but our development process lets us lower the costs. I guarantee it's profitable.
As a car lover, I ask myself, 'What am I going to be buying in the future? Will it be a boring, underpowered, dorky car because the government tells me I shouldn't pollute? Or do I come up with a cool-looking, sexy dream car that is also part of the future?'
Any car designer always dreams about designing their own car - if they say they don't, they're lying... For me, it was never about starting my own company just to make another car.
You know what? Starting a car company is risky.
When I was at BMW and Aston Martin, I realized how difficult and how many resources it takes to create a car - let alone a car company.
The car is the most regulated thing in the world. It's more complicated to make a car than it is to send a rocket to space.
People feel very emotional about cars, and I don't want them to feel bad about driving a fast car.
I like to come up first of all with a free idea, thinking about and obviously understanding what is necessary for it to become a car.
A painting doesn't have to have a real usability other than you looking at it. Obviously, a car, an engine, or battery has to fit people's needs.
When I see a car I've designed going down the street and somebody admiring it, that's a nice feeling.