Henrik Fisker Lawsuit Accuses Aston Martin of Extortion

Auto designer Henrik Fisker has filed a $100 million lawsuit in the U.S. that claims his former employer, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., is illegally pressuring him not to unveil a prototype supercar next week at the Detroit auto show.

Aston Martin sent Fisker a letter last month threatening to sue if he showed his Force 1 concept in Detroit. The British carmaker says the car too closely resembles Aston Martin’s new DB10 sport coupe.

Fisker’s lawsuit asks a US. District Court in California to decide whether the two cars are sufficiently different in design. The complaint says Aston Martin’s threat of litigation amounts to extortion.

In April Fisker dropped plans to introduce the $400,000 Thunderbolt supercar, which is based on the Aston Martin Vanquish coupe, after the carmaker sued him. Fisker’s attorney claims Aston Martin is trying to “stomp out Henrik Fisker’s competitive presence” in the luxury sports car market.

Fisker designed cars for Aston Martin in 2001-2004. He co-founded Fisker Automotive Inc. in California three years later, but the company went bankrupt in 2013 after sales of its Karma hybrid sport sedan stalled.