Fisker SUV planned

Fisker will build a crossover to join its Karma sports saloon, Auto Express has learned.

The Californian maker expanded its line-up by launching the Surf shooting brake estate at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, but an insider told us “a crossover SUV is definitely on the cards”.

This will be based on a new platform that will debut on the forthcoming small saloon Fisker is readying under the codename Project Nina. The four-door will be similar in size to a BMW 5 Series, but will cost “about the same as a top-end 3 Series”, weighing in at around £40,000.

The Project Nina saloon will go on sale in 2013, with a range-extending hybrid powertrain like the Karma’s. But the engine will be sourced from BMW.

It will be available in right-hand drive, and from the middle of next year, Fisker plans to offer the Karma in right-hand-drive form, too, as well as the Surf.

An updated Karma will debut early next year, complete with a new exhaust system, which has been designed to reduce engine noise following criticism of early models.

While the Karma and Surf will continue to be built in Valmet in Finland, the Project Nina car will be manufactured at a newly refurbished plant in Wilmington, Delaware. The site used to build the Pontiac Solstice, and Fisker paid million (£15.6million) to buy it from General Motors.

The saloon will cost £40,000, so the crossover would target the £50,000-£60,000 price bracket, and could arrive in 2015.

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