artega

A brief history about artega: Back in 2006, a mechanical engineer had a big dream—building a sports car brand that could take on giants like Porsche, Lotus, and Ferrari. That engineer was Klaus Dieter Frers, and the company he founded was Artega.

Things looked promising, and in 2007, Artega revealed its first creation—the Artega GT. It was a lightweight, aerodynamic sports car designed to compete with the Porsche Cayman and Lotus Evora. But then, the global financial crisis hit. Customers started canceling their orders, and what began as a dream quickly turned into a nightmare. By the time the GT finally reached production in 2009, the company was drowning in debt. A Mexican investment firm, Tresalia Capital, stepped in to take control and keep things moving. Frers, however, left Artega and returned to his other company, Paragon AG, which specialized in automotive display systems.

Even with new leadership, Artega’s challenges weren’t over. The company brought in Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart, a former executive at Continental AG and Infineon AG, to steer things in a new direction—electric vehicles. Seeing the industry’s future, Artega decided to transform the GT into an EV. In 2015, they unveiled the Artega SE, an electric version of the GT with a 300 km (186-mile) range. It was faster than the original GT, but sales still struggled to take off.

Realizing it needed to appeal to a wider market, Artega introduced the Karo in 2015. Inspired by the classic 1955 BMW Isetta, this tiny EV swapped out the original’s gasoline engine for an electric powertrain. Built for affordability and urban mobility, the Karo featured a unique bubble-shaped body and an ATV-like chassis. By 2020, Artega announced its pricing, putting it in the same range as budget-friendly four-seater electric cars.

At the same time, Artega also revealed the Scalo, an electric sports car that was nearly production-ready. Unlike most EVs, it combined high-power capacitors with batteries to deliver better performance. It had two electric motors—one for each rear wheel—producing a total of 300 kW. The car was built using aerospace materials and featured a lightweight polyurethane-carbon body similar to the Artega GT. However, its high price tag made it even more expensive than a Porsche Turbo from the same year.

In 2017, Artega took things even further with the Superelettra concept, inspired by the legendary McLaren F1. This all-electric supercar featured four motors—one per wheel—and a unique three-seat layout with the driver positioned in the center. The futuristic design even replaced traditional mirrors with rear-view cameras. However, Artega never announced a price, and the model remained a concept.

Despite its bold ideas and exciting innovations, Artega struggled to find its place in the market. The brand’s cars were either too expensive or too unconventional for mainstream buyers. A lack of a strong dealership network and after-sales support didn’t help either. In total, Artega only managed to sell 153 units of the GT. Its electric models were priced higher than Tesla’s offerings, but without the same brand recognition or production efficiency. Ultimately, Artega’s ambition wasn’t enough to keep the company afloat.

Current Models

Browse through this artega’s current models below and explore their specifications