Several DeLorean executives are being sued by their former employer Karma Automotive. For reference, the 'new' DeLorean is a completely separate brand from the iconic 1980s marque. It was founded in November 2021 with the aim of developing its own 'modern DeLorean' and received significant investment to do so.
DeLorean's CEO, Joost de Vries, is a former Karma Automotive employee. Karma is accusing him, and numerous other former employees who joined him at DeLorean, of sabotaging investment opportunities for their own gain. The firm believes that while he was still a Karma employee he lured potential investors towards his own DeLorean brand instead.
Back in 2020 Karma had been interested in launching a reimagined DeLorean venture. de Vries' job was to find more investors to back the move for Karma. However, de Vries reportedly insisted to investors that any DeLorean project would not involve Karma. He is also accused of using trade secrets to help develop the DeLorean Alpha5.
On top of de Vries, Karma is also suing DeLorean's Chief Operating Officer Alan Yuan, Vice President Neilo Harris, and Chief Marketing Officer Troy Beetz - all of whom are former employees of the Chinese firm.
The DeLorean Alpha5 was revealed last May. Styled by Italdesign, the Alpha5 is an all-electric 2+2 grand tourer that is expected to reach production by 2024. DeLorean claims the Alpha5 can go for 300 miles on a single charge and sprint from 0-60 mph in under 3 seconds. Only 88 Alpha5s will be built, with pricing likely to start at over $150,000.
