| How Nikola’s incoming CEO wants to crack the truck market |
HANNOVER, Germany — As up-and-coming Nikola Corp. CEO Michael Lohschler took the podium at the IAA Transportation 2022 conference while pitching his company’s zero-emissions trucks, Nikola founder Trevor Milton was 4,000 miles away in a New York courthouse, which But was facing allegations that he defrauded the investors of the company.
Each had a lot to prove.
Milton once dreamed of trucking carbon-free hydrogen fuel cell, creating a company with a market share value of more than $20 billion at one time. But now he’s been accused of misleading investors with exaggerated technology claims, including making a video of a dummy hydrogen truck that bends slightly to turn it. The trial in the US District Court is expected to end in early October.
As Milton’s legal team works to convince a federal jury of his innocence, Loehshaler works to convince potential investors, customers, and the trucking industry that his company is built on solid technology that is economical to buy. Understood.
“It’s obviously a tough challenge, but at least he knows the situation and hopefully all traps have been spread,” said Mike Ramsey, advanced mobility analyst at Gartner Inc.
Nikola needs to cut his losses in order to sell the truck and collect revenue. It lost $173 million on sales of $18.1 million in the second quarter. But Lohshaler will also have to change the perception of the company.
“The answer is pretty straightforward. Let the product speak the real language,” explains Lohshaler Automotive News, “Do we have a product that’s real, that drives, that’s working? And the answer is yes.”
—Jerry Hirsch