It was not a smooth return for the DeLorean Motor Company. It faced two previous lawsuits, one in 2015 and another in 2017, while the announcement of the Alpha5 EV prompted John DeLorean’s daughter to publicly denounce the Texas-based company’s association with the original DeLorean. And now, another lawsuit is being filed against DMC – this time coming from California-based EV maker Karma Automotive.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, federal lawsuit accuse four former Karma Automotive employees of stealing trade secrets and starting a new company that will reimagine popular DeLorean vehicles for the EV era.
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The lawsuit names current DeLorean Motors Company CEO Joost de Vries, Chief Operating Officer Alan Yuan, Chief Marketing Officer Troy Beetz, and Vice President Brand and Creative Neilo Harris. All four are former employees of Karma Automotive, and were assigned to a DeLorean revival project called “Project 88.”
According to the lawsuit, the four executives allegedly requested investments and set up a new company while still employed by Karma. They are said to have used Karma’s corporate email addresses and company cars when doing business, claimed to have taken place between December 2020 and February 2022. The four are also accused of withholding information from Karma Automotive executives to ascertain the failure of Project 88.
After de Vries resigned from Karma Automotive, the four executives founded DeLorean Motors Reimagined LLC in November 2021. However, Yuan, Beetz, and Harris remained with Karma until February 2022. All four were sued for default, default. , deception, and torturous interference. Violations of federal and state laws are claimed by Karma Automotive.
DeLorean Motors Reimagined LLC sells the car under the name DeLorean Motor Company, which launched the Alpha5 EV this year. The electric coupe will be shown to the public at Pebble Beach this weekend. DMC revealed three more concepts under the Alpha name in July.
