Electrical truck maker Nikola mentioned Michael Lohscheller will step down as CEO lower than a yr after taking up the job and would get replaced by former Basic Motors vice chairman Stephen Girsky.
Girsky, who’s presently Nikola’s chairman, would be the firm’s fourth CEO in as a few years. His appointment comes as Nikola tries to navigate a number of challenges together with depleting money reserves, provide chain constraints and a pivot to hydrogen gas cell expertise.
Girsky, who is probably finest recognized for his position serving to GM after chapter, was head of the particular objective acquisition firm that took Nikola public by way of a reverse merger in 2020.
He additionally brokered a deal giving GM an 11 p.c stake in Nikola as a part of a subsequently canceled strategic partnership.
Lohscheller has determined to step down on account of a household well being matter and shall be returning to Europe, Nikola mentioned on Friday, including that he would stay in an advisory capability by means of the top of September.
Lohscheller was CEO of the German automaker Opel underneath three totally different mum or dad corporations: Basic Motors, PSA Group and Stellantis. For his turnaround of Opel, a power cash loser, Lohscheller was awarded an Automotive Information Europe Eurostar Model CEO award in 2019.
He joined Nikola this yr after a brief stint as CEO of VinFast World, the automotive arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup.
Narrower loss
Individually, Nikola on Friday reported a narrower second-quarter loss as decrease manufacturing of its Tre battery-electric vehicles within the April-June interval helped hold prices in examine.
Nikola has been scuffling with dwindling money reserves because it burns by means of money to ramp up manufacturing of its vehicles.
Its buyers on Thursday permitted a proposal that enables the truckmaker to difficulty extra shares to lift funds.
“The corporate doesn’t want new shares, they want new management,” founder, Trevor Milton, mentioned in a LinkedIn publish in June.
Milton stepped down as CEO of the corporate in 2020 after a brief vendor Hindenburg issued a scathing report that labeled Nikola a “fraud.”
Final month, Nikola mentioned it could liquidate the belongings of battery maker Romeo Energy, which it acquired lower than a yr in the past for $144 million.
Steve Shindler, who has been a board member since 2020, will function chairman after Girsky’s appointment, the corporate mentioned on Friday.
Bloomberg contributed to this report