Fisker has come to a deal with China Grand Automotive Group, which will get its Karma sedan distributed throughout China. CGA has a network of more than 200 dealerships that will handle Karma sales, service and marketing. Fisker plans to use the deal to take advantage of China’s growing luxury car market and tightening emissions restrictions toward meeting its annual sales goal of 15,000 units.

Fisker plans to launch the car in China at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show next spring. It will follow that up with delivery of the first Karmas by next fall, but we all know how the best laid Karma production plans go, so we’ll see if that happens.

The Karma is expected to launch in the United States early next year with a $87,400 price tag. [via WSJ]

The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are set to go head to head in the market beginning next month and, so far, the Chevy Volt is coming with heavier artillery. In addition to winning Motor Trend and Automobile magazines’ 2011 Car of the Year this week, the Volt has now snagged honors as the Green Car Journal’s 2011 Green Car of the Year, beating out the Leaf along with the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid.

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The Vision EfficientDynamics seen at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show is officially go, BMW announced at an event in Leipzig today. The announcement comes about two months after BMW began teasing the world with what was largely believed to be a camoflouged, Vision EfficientDynamics-based car on its whimsical website “dontblogaboutthis.com.” Today, the company updated that site with pictures of the road-ready prototype.

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We’d have thought for sure the most exciting news of the day would be coming from Lamborghini’s camp, but it’s come from across the pond, instead. While Lambo’s Sesto Elemento is nothing short of lustrageous, Jaguar’s announcement of its own supercar concept is more exciting because a. we hadn’t heard a peep about it until today and b. Jaguar hasn’t made a supercar since the hot, sexy, world-record-breaking XJ220 ended back in 1994. So yeah, this is big news.

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Following a look into the electric/hybrid future of Volkswagen, Porsche announced today its own plans for hybrid and electric vehicles coming in the next few years. The Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid will in no way stand alone as the only ungainly Porsche four-door to feature a hybrid option. Stuttgart is also developing a Panamera S Hybrid, which will feature the same drivetrain as the Cayenne hybrid: a 333 hp 3.0-liter supercharged V6 with a 34 kW motor. It will hit the market in 2011.

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No sooner did the virtual ink dry on the post we did yesterday about the hydrogen fuel cell concept that BMW is floating around than spy shots popped up. The hybrid, which could potentially see production by 2014, combines a rear-axle electric motor, a fuel cell that BMW terms an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) and a four-cylinder petrol engine. Check out our post from yesterday for more details on that combination.

The technology being tested in the 1 Series upstairs may eventually make its way into MINI models and BMW front-wheel drive cars. [via LeftLaneNews]

It seems like a poor time to be licensing Prius technology (or anything with a Toyota label on it, for that matter), but Mazda is taking exactly that route on its way to getting into the growing hybrid market. The licensing deal was announced today and will allow Mazda to use key components of Prius hybrid tech in its own vehicles. Mazda plans to use the technology in conjunction with next-generation SKY engines. It plans to introduce a hybrid in 2013. [via Carscoop]

Originally thought to be years down the line, the latest reports are indicating that Ferrari will be debuting its 599 GTB Fiorano hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show next year. The report originated in  Quattroruote.

The 599 hybrid will feature the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) originally designed for Ferrari’s F1 team. The hybrid system includes a rear electric motor and a lithium ion battery pack, which deliver efficiency boosting in the way of regenerative braking and auto start-stop.

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According to a report on AutoCar, Ferrari insiders have confirmed Ferrari’s rumored hybrid 4 x 4 system and indicated that it could hit some Ferraris by 2014. The electric system won’t take an iota of performance away from the prancing stallion. In fact, it’ll add performance. Designed to boost handling and acceleration as opposed to efficiency, the 4 x 4 system will feature front-mounted electric motors to provide more thorough control over the torque being channeled to the front wheels.  The system will be used in GT models and will be an option on the recently spied 612. It may make its debut at the 2014 Geneva Auto Show. [via Autocar]