Fisker's Risks

Former BMW designer Henrik Fisker left a secure job to create his own eponymous supercars. He explains why he made the leap of faith

Global auto companies today employ trickle-down design. Lavish vehicles—some of which are produced in extremely limited volume, while others are concepts that may never see the light of day—are endowed with the most audacious lines and experimental technologies. Often these vehicles establish the ideal aesthetics of a given brand. Much of the time they are one-of-a-kind.

Henrik Fisker, 37 and Danish-born, has made a career of designing such automotive crown jewels. While at BMW he penned the limited-run roadster, the Z8, credited with re-engaging loyal customers. And at the helm of Aston Martin design (a division of Ford Motor (F)) he unveiled his DB9 to the awe and envy of designers throughout the industry.

But two years ago, Fisker turned his back on old, established brands, striking out on his own (see BusinessWeek.com, 9/25/06, "Pure Expression from a Luxury Carmaker"). He's currently developing highly customized cars that bear his name and no one else's. BusinessWeek.com's Matt Vella spoke with Fisker about his background, what motivates him, and a wide variety of auto industry issues.

When and how did you get the design bug?

I've always been interested in cars, ever since I can remember. My interest started as soon as I got my first model car. It came naturally, easily. I think you want to be a designer because, when you look at stuff, you want to create it differently. Whenever I look at something —whether a lamp or a toothbrush or a car—I'm always thinking, "I would do it this way or that way." And, that impulse has always been there.

Your departure from Ford turned a lot of heads. I'm interested in what you think the take-away lesson is about deciding to move away from high-profile successes to something new.

What you realize when you step out and decide to become an entrepreneur, do something for yourself, is that you find yourself having to and wanting to do a lot more work. You suddenly have, I would say, about 60% more time to do what you actually want to do, which, in my case, is designing cars. And that's because you're not part of a massive organization where hundreds of control people all the time want you to write reports or participate in conference calls and so on, all basically to justify your being there. It's liberation, really.

Batch engineering is a big topic in the industry these days. It's usually treated very negatively. There are examples, good and bad, all along the spectrum, from Chevrolet to Bentley. First, do you see what you're doing intersecting at all with that? And, more importantly, do you think it's a positive development, or do you think it's a net negative?

Today, all products but specifically cars are becoming so complicated. There are many examples where the consumer really would not know if it's the same part or a different one. Let's say there is a little electric motor that drives up the side-window glass. You would not know if this is the same electric engine in, for instance, the Audi and the Bentley. It doesn't make any sense for them to use two different models if they can use the same one.

So I think today it's become more normal than ever that several car companies use the same parts. I think the important thing is that, whatever you do, the customer feels what your brand stands for, that you do things with 100% purity to your brand.

We've seen the emergence of pop designers of which the public is cognizant and even in some cases reverent. Increasing social status is being bestowed on successful designers. How has your rep helped you?

Firstly, we had investors that knew my name because they had bought one of the cars I designed previously like the BMW Z8. And we also had customers calling up to place orders, even when we'd hardly started and just had a rough sketch of the car.

Overall, it's like a painter whose name you know and are faithful to.