Michael Loscheller
The former Opel manager is leaving the Nikola after less than a year.
(Photo: Reuters)
The US electric truck manufacturer Nikola is changing its boss for the fourth time in four years. Former Opel manager Michael Lohscheller is leaving the crisis-ridden company for family reasons after less than a year in the top post and is returning to Europe, Nikola announced on Friday.
The successor is the previous chairman of the board of directors, Steven Girsky, who was once known for his role in rescuing the car giant General Motors (GM).
Lohscheller’s departure has no business reasons, insiders reported to the Handelsblatt on Friday. Rather, the top manager has to take care of a family member who is seriously ill.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together at Nikola,” said Lohscheller in an interview with the Handelsblatt. He hopes that the company will continue to develop positively. “And personally, I would also be happy if I could push ahead with the transformation of the mobility industry elsewhere at a later date.”
Lohscheller came to Nikola in February 2022. First he managed the engine division, then at the end of the year he was promoted to the chief post.
Nikola loses its CEO in the midst of transformation
The 54-year-old has global experience in the automotive business and was, among other things, VW CFO in the USA. Since 2017, as CEO, he had reorganized the car manufacturer Opel in the new parent company PSA, which in turn merged with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis at the beginning of 2021. An engagement as head of Vietnam’s first automaker, Vinfast, remained an episode in 2021, lasting just four months.
trucks
Nikola’s greatest hopes for the future lie in the development and sale of fuel cell trucks.
(Photo: Reuters)
In earlier years, the new boss Girsky was, among other things, the European boss of GM and had brought Lohscheller to Opel. The two men know each other well. However, Girsky is not acting as a placeholder – Lohscheller will not return to Nikola, it is said.
The company, which was rocked in 2020 by fraud allegations against now convicted founder Trevor Milton, started production of its fuel cell trucks in late July and aims to deliver the first of them in September. So far there have been orders for 200 vehicles, Nikola said on Friday.
Nikola has also started delivering its electric truck: Nikola built 33 of its battery-powered trucks in the last quarter. However, the greatest hopes for the future are clearly in the development and sale of fuel cell trucks.
Shock for employees and investors
Employees at the Arizona headquarters reacted with surprise to the news of Lohscheller’s departure on Friday. According to one voice, he was “a really exceptional person and manager”. On the stock exchange, the share price collapsed by up to 16.4 percent.
Lohscheller started with high expectations. Nikola’s survival was anything but certain. After taking over the top position, he managed to get the company out of permanent crisis mode and raise new money. The ramp-up of mass production proved to be difficult. Most recently, Nikola made progress here. The annual production capacity for the electric and hydrogen trucks could be increased to up to 2,400.
In addition, Nikola began to set up a hydrogen filling station network and secured corresponding subsidies from the US government.
The business figures were still deep in the red, even if Lohscheller recently managed to limit the losses to a certain extent. In the past quarter, Nikola made a bottom line loss of almost $218 million on sales of $15 million. In contrast, the loss in continuing operations fell by 32 to 140 million dollars.
Girsky explained that he is enthusiastic about his work and will build on the work of Lohscheller’s team. The previous strategy will be continued in order to “achieve our milestones”. The new boss knows: Nikola cannot expect any more patience from his shareholders. With agency material.
More: Inside Nikola – How the start-up still wants to revolutionize the truck world