Beattie joins Fisker as prices climb

Fisker Automotive, maker of the luxury hybrid Fisker Karma, has appointed luxury-brands executive Richard Beattie to the newly created position of chief commercial officer. Beattie will be responsible for sales, marketing and customer service for the brand.

Beattie comes from a strong run as executive vice president of sales and marketing for Jaguar North America and, before that, for Jaguar Land Rover North America, positions which followed a career at Ford, where he was most recently president and CEO of Mazda’s North American operations.

Beattie’s luxury-car experience will do him well at Fisker, where the entry price of a Karma just hit six figures, at a reported $102,950. A loaded Karma should be $116,950.

Selling a luxury car, even one as nicely styled as the Karma, is an art unto itself. Though pricing has not been officially released, published reports say the price increase was announced to dealers on Monday.

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