Styling scuffle: Henrik Fisker files £68 million lawsuit against Aston Martin

Remember, the animosity between the two sides already reached a boiling point a year ago when the British automaker filed its own lawsuit against Fisker, accusing the designer of lifting design elements from the Aston Martin Vanquish and using it on the Thunderbolt Concept that Fisker planned to produce in limited numbers with the help of Galpin Motors.

The letter, included in the suit, raises concerns that a recently released top view sketch of an unreleased vehicle – named the Force 1 – looks “strikingly similar to several of Aston Martin’s cars, including the DB10 car” that was featured in the recent James Bond movie “Spectre“. And according to Fisker’s lawsuit, “Aston Martin’s letter admits, ‘We do not know what the final version of Fisker’s Force 1 will look like'”. The designer is well known as the founder of Fisker Automotive since 2007, but after his company went into bankruptcy, he has embarked on a new project by setting up Henrik Fisker Design house and taking part in various design projects.

Fisker, if you recall, is the man who penned the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9. According to Fisker’s legal team, the designer received a letter from a lawyer representing Aston Martin. Fisker himself lobbed his own personal grenade in Aston Martin’s direction, claiming that the company is simply “trying to intimidate me to prop up their own flailing company and to mask their financial and product deficiencies. I refuse to be intimidated and that is the reason for today’s filing”.

“Henrik, coming in, causes a problem” for Aston Martin, Michaels said. After he left Aston Martin, Fisker says, the company’s sales plummeted by 44 percent between 2008 and 2014, while Porsche sales saw an 81 percent increase during the period, USA auto sales rose by 25 percent, and global sales of luxury cars boomed, the complaint states. Since the average person does not know how much it is struggling, Michaels said, a false accusation from Aston Martin that Fisker stole its vehicle designs would carry “great weight” and could cause “tremendous damage” to his reputation.

Both Aston Martin and Fisker Automotive have had financial trouble in recent years.

The supercar in question is the “Force 1”. Fisker is suing for “no less than $USD100m” in addition to punitive damages.

Monday’s lawsuit names three Aston Martin executives: CEO Andy Palmer, spokesman Simon Sproule and Design Director Marek Reichman. He resigned from Fisker Automotive in 2013 and later returned to designing luxury sports cars, his lawyer said.