Karma Auto brings jobs to Troy

Company hiring engineers and executives in Metro Detroit

TROY, Mich. – Metro Detroit gear heads will remember the meteoric rise and bankruptcy of Fisker Karma and its electric car.

The company is back and is hiring engineers and executives in Metro Detroit, ready to bring high-end auto design to a mass market town for the first time.

Motown is filled with engineering talent that automakers need all across the globe. But it looks like Troy is going to become the expensive Motown as Karma brings its electric cars to Troy.

Monday's ribbon-cutting marks a new beginning for Karma. The executive and engineering team is expected to take the distinctive looking Revero electric sports car to the next level with new and better performing siblings.

Former Cadillac executive and current Karma Chief Revenue Officer Jim Taylor said Karma needed a Detroit presence.

"GM, Ford, Chrysler, all the manufacturers want exactly the same people, so we're in a very big competition to try and draw that talent," Taylor said. "So opening up a Troy office for us is going to be a big help in attracting that talent."

Who wouldn't want to work on $130,000 luxury cars where the pressure is unlike anything they've worked on: cost isn't an issue.

"We want to be very scarce, rare, but also we have no pressure for volume and we have actually no pressure for timing. Just a pressure for quality," Taylor said.

The Troy Karma facility will host up to 100 power-train and design engineers who will go to work on making the Revero and future vehicles go farther than 50 miles electric and 300 miles with a generator, like the Volt.

Taylor believes it changes the luxury landscape.

"Astin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Ferarri, all those cars are made in Europe," Taylor said. "This is a great opportunity for the U.S. to get into a brand new segment and hopefully also become one of the world's players in ultra luxury vehicles."

There are only eight of the vehicles right now, but they're getting the California plant ramped up by the end of the year.


About the Authors:

Rod Meloni is an Emmy Award-winning Business Editor on Local 4 News and a Certified Financial Plannerâ„¢ Professional.

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.