On Monday, Nikola recovered its falling shares from earlier in the week after a research firm alleged Nikola of fraud. The electric vehicle company also disputed the fraud claims made by Hindenburg Research.
In the company’s official statement, released on Monday, they longed out several inaccuracies in the fraud allegations made by the research firm. However, one of the most shocking claims made by Hindenburg has not been disputed.
The research firm reported that Nikola staged its electric truck’s driverless functionality. They also claimed that the truck was not fully functional and that someone was operating it while Nikola tried to make it seem like it the truck drove itself.
Nikola Founder Accused Of Lying And Manipulating Auto Companies
After Kim Brady, the company’s CFO made the public announcements, Nikola shares increased by 11 percent at $35.79. He reassured company investors allaying that their plans were still on track.
Kim Brady also confirmed the news that they have been working on several projects that would cut their cost significantly. Brady spoke specifically about their proposed partnership with General Motors, which is expected to be one of Nikola’s latest ventures.
As per the company, more than $4 billion for powertrain and battery, and more than $1 billion for validation and engineering costs will be saved through their partnership scheme.
In the RBC Capital Market conference, Brady criticized Hildensburg and said that, in their report, they were insulting Nikola’s strategic partners by saying that they weren’t aware of how the company functions. He further added that the strategic partners are much more responsible and know more about the company than a third-party research firm would know.
As for the video, Nikola stated that they never claimed that the truck was automatically driving itself although that is what the truck is designed for. Many have noted that even though Nikola did not claim anything, they also failed to reveal that the truck was not driving itself, leading many to believe that it was fully functioning.
Hindenburg Founder Rebuffs Nikola’s Response As Not Adequate
The video is from 3 years ago. Brady further mentioned that the company’s strategic partners were aware of why the prototype truck was capable of. He also said that the research firm was simply trying to manipulate the video to support their thesis.
Nikola also stated that the truck was left unfinished because they wanted to divert resources into another project. The company decided to focus on Nikola Two, a self-propelled pickup, instead.
The research firm also accused Trevor Milton, Nikola’s founder, of lying and manipulating to ultimately partner up with top auto companies.
All fraud claims have been denied by Nikola. The company also stated that they were looking to take legal action against the research firm.
Meanwhile, Nathan Anderson, founder of Hindenburg, said that Nikola’s response was not adequate.
