Published September 10, 2012
By Jeff Cobb
Perhaps Fisker is mirroring its efforts to spur owners’ bonding amongst themselves and loyalty to itself on similar nicely catered events put on by Tesla, but Fisker’s get-togethers have also tended to be described with plenty of superlatives.
For example, at the end of last month the “largest gathering” of owners of the “world’s first luxury Electric Vehicle with extended range” met at the “world’s highest-volume Fisker retailer” in Southern California, and not to be outdone, on Sept. 2 a “world record” was set by Karma owners in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands world record in question was 45 electric vehicles all charging together in one place. But maybe this was a Netherlands phenomenon as much as a promotional brainchild by Fisker, as the previous record set in May of 43 EVs from different automakers all charging together also happened in that electric-vehicle friendly country.
In the Netherlands, the government places onerous five-figure taxes on CO2-emitting high-end gas guzzlers effectively serving as a sales-stifling ugly stick ready to financially whop buyers of wasteful luxury cars on their not earth-friendly heads.
In that progressive country, Fisker’s series-hybrid Karma is happily exempt, well subsidized, and its sales of just 88 Karmas in May let Fisker place second-highest among all luxury sedans sold in the Netherlands, besting the long-established, better-funded efforts of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi.
Things look pretty bright in the Netherlands for Fisker, and just to celebrate green motoring, 45 of its Karma owners were able to occupy 60 available charging spots to set a novel world record too – and this time it was set by one type of car, not a hodgepodge. By the looks of the party-goers/world record winners in Venlo, the Netherlands, it was all in good fun, and held with fine taste at that.
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None of this is surprising really. The start-up automaker is doing what it can to generate positive publicity for its sleek and stylish cars and create synergy for its nameplate.
As mentioned, this is nothing less than Tesla also does to engender the love by pushing the chutzpah-threshold-meter at times to the limit as it otherwise cultivates social connectedness among its growing flock of owners and enthusiasts.
That company has been known to put on lavish events where enthusiasts might also rub elbows with top executives with the not-unintended consequences of making supporters feel special and a part of something significant. The cascade of benefits for Tesla's perceived giving back has been like fertilizer on the roots of its fans' allegiance, driving them deeper into the soil of their feelings of good will and serving the EV maker as it seeks to strengthen its brand identity.
Having suffered fewer public relations miscues, and perhaps being just plain better at throwing a good party and social networking, Tesla still seems to be winning in the stoking-the-flames contest, but Fisker is also hard at work scoring positive points – superlatively at that.
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