Monday brought about a big change in the entire marketing setup of Nikola as Trevor Milton, the founder, stepped down from his post as the Executive Chairman of the company. This news came a week after a firm accused Nikola of selling lies again and again. And to be frank, this news doesn’t come in as surprising since the stocks of Nikola had already dropped 30% in premarket trading.
The company of electric truck makers stated that they had accepted Milton’s resignation. In his stead, Stephen Girsky- the previous vice chairman of General Motors would be appointed Chairman.
In a statement, Milton mentioned how Nikola was truly everything that constituted him. He also believed that the true focus of Nikola had to be on changing the world, and not him. Precisely why he decided to go upto the board and submit his resignation. For, he didn’t want to tarnish the honor of managing and founding this company for such a long time by their present state.
Nikola’s ‘Ocean of Lies’ Fiasco
The 10th September report, which was titled, ‘Nikola: How to Parlay An Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America’ was released by Hindenburg Research. This report claimed that Nikola had been making false statements about the true strength of its technologies in order to secure bigger orders. This is exactly how they were able to get into an agreement with General Motors.
Both the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission have decided to check into this matter. There have been several allegations that Nikola had been completely deceiving its investors. On the other hand, Nikola refused to accept the charges- stating that there were quite a few inaccurate allegations that were provided in the report.
The Union Between General Motors and Nikola
A tweet on Monday by Milton read that he was intending to defend himself from the false charges that had been levied on him. In this veritable sandstorm, General Motors recently invested in around 11% of the stakes in the company. This was to facilitate the production of Nikola’s hydrogen fuel pickup truck- the Badger. The CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra stated that both the companies had a deal of $2 billion with each other to bring out this pickup truck.
A statement issued by General Motors spoke about how they would be working with the fledgling Electric truck company in order to properly capitulate on the growing opportunities in Hydrotex fuel cell, and Ultium battery. And let’s not forget- all this to create the Nikola Badger.
Finally, GM also mentioned how Nikola was just one of the many companies that had decided to invest in the EV technology that GM provided. And this was simply a single part of the overall strategy that GM had. Their main goal has always been to settle everyone in an EV, and they will see that it happens at any cost.
