For being such a small company, Fisker has attracted a lot of big name talent. Fisker’s previous chief executive officer was former Chrysler executive Tom Lasorda. Its current CEO is Tony Posawatz, who has been in his post since August. As a vehicle line director, Posawatz was responsible for the development of the Chevrolet Volt.
This was valuable experience for Fisker, whose Karma is also a plug-in electric vehicle and uses GM’s 2.0-liter Ecotec four cylinder. Now Automotive News has announced that Joel Ewanick has joined Fisker as it’s global head of sales and marketing.
Interestingly enough, it’s on an interim (every executive position at Fisker seems to be interim) basis. Ewanick was GM’s top advertising executive for a year and a half, but was pushed out by the company earlier this year. Before GM, Ewanick was at Hyundai, so he has a lot of big name experience in this field. His hiring comes in response to retirement of Richard Beattie, Fisker’s former head of advertising. With a limited budget, Fisker doesn’t have a huge advertising presence right now.
Instead, it uses a lot of creative marketing, like smart product placement and association with a lot of celebrities. We will likely get more print and television advertising under Ewanick as well as possibly a new tag line. The biggest task for Fisker will be launching the upcoming Atlantic plug-in. As a far more mainstream car, it will need an advertising campaign to achieve the kind of sales that Fisker hopes for. Fisker has been the beneficiary of a lot of earned media but not to the same extent that the Tesla has had with the Model S.
